RP XSDF Roleplay Thread: Vanguard of Forseti

[ZombieSplitter53]

Consequences: Part Three

Jan. 29th

"100 kilos is, like... the same as 100 feris, right?" Korra asked. "You sneaky little bitch."

Brigid shrugged. "I'm not the only one hiding something... am I?"

The smile slipped from Korra's face, and she stepped away from the front of her cell, laying on the bed and facing the wall. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Brigid grinned. "Oh? Because I'm thinking you used electrokinesis on me. And that was a barrier I punched, wasn't it?" She sighed. "But your hair is red. Guess it could be dyed, though. But that fireball..."

Korra sighed. Without turning, she waved her arm dismissively. "The thing I had on my arm. Let's me... further the ruse. It's as easy as a little methane, a spark, and a small shield."

Brigid blinked several times, surprised it had been so easy. She looked at Korra's hair, and asked, "So... why red?"

"My... my grammy was red..." Korra finally turned around. "Please... don't..."

Brigid raised her hand to her heart. "On my honor. I won't tell a soul."

Jan 31st

Brigid sighed, wiping away a small tear. "She... she's probably fuming right now, wondering why I haven't called. But it's hard!" She stood up, slowly pacing around her cell. "I mean... every... single... time I did anything wrong, I'd have to hear the same tired speech about how good a girl I am... which turned into what a good girl I was once I hit my teens. So much pressure! You... you know what my mother said to me when I tried to get her to understand why I wanted to join the military after high school?"

Korra nodded. "I can guess. Something like, 'Why can't you listen like when you were a child, you were such a good girl back then'?"

Brigid shuddered in anger. "We didn't talk for a year. Literally a year. Finally, my dad got fed up and put his foot down. Hard to do with my mother, even for him. After lecturing us for about three hours, my mother and I started talking again. We... we were actually doing pretty good... until..."

"Until you left?" Korra asked.

Brigid sighed, sitting on her bed. "They understood. But... my brother. He was just a kid. He looked up to me, and didn't understand why I just up and disappeared. I... I'm not sure he'll ever forgive me."

Korra slowly nodded. "I... I guess the first step is to call them." She pointed her finger at Brigid. "And you will call them as soon as we get out, or I'm kicking your ass!"

Brigid smiled lightly, wiping away a few tears. "Alright. I'll hold you to that."

Feb. 3rd

Brigid stared at Korra with a concerned look. The Tamearin munched away at her lunch, pretending she didn't notice and doing a bad job of it. Finally, she looked up. "What!?"

Brigid took a deep breath. "Korra... the man you were talking to. He... he was..."

"What, this again?" Korra took another bite, talking with her mouth full. "I get it, O'Brien. He was lying. I knew that was a possibility. I was taking a chance. But..." She scoffed. "But I realize you were only trying to help. I shouldn't have attacked you. I'm s... I'm s-s..."

"You're selling hotdogs and beer?" Brigid asked with a grin.

Korra rolled her eyes. "Smartass."

Brigid laughed. "And I'm sorry for butting into your business. I just saw you, my friend... we are still friends, right?"

Korra shrugged. "I guess."

"I saw you, and heard what those other guys said, and I know you're still learning about human culture. You know that humans don't trade sex for things, right?" Brigid chuckled. "I mean, some do, but we usually call those people..."

Korra's fork clattered to the floor. She slowly reached down to pick it up, placing it and her tray to the side. Her hair had fallen in front of her face, obscuring it, but she made no attempt to move it. "I... know, O'Brien. I've learn what they're called."

The pair fell silent, Brigid searching for something to say. Finally, she asked, "Was it... something that happened before you came here?" Korra slowly nodded. "Do... you want to talk about it?" Korra slowly shook her head. Brigid smiled gently. "Alright. But if you ever do, I'm here."

Korra gave her a surprised look, expecting Brigid to push her. She smiled back, and nodded. "Okay... thanks."

Feb. 5th

The guard hit the switches, the barriers dropping from the cells. "You're free to go, ladies. Try to stay out of trouble."

The women exchanged a surprised look, Korra asking, "What's the date?"

"Earth date is February the fifth, my dear. Time is..."

"Only fifteen days?" Brigid grinned. "We getting out early on good behavior?"

The guard shook his head. "No, what you guys did was down played by Lt. Commander Brea, and your time here is... somewhat unofficial. We had to get you out before we forgot you were here, what with the Lt. Commander gone."

Brigid's face turned pale, her eyes widening. "I... you... w-what... where..."

The guard shrugged. "Urgent business elsewhere. Left Mason in her position and left to..." Brigid took off down the hallways, not bothing to grab her things. "She left early this morning!" the guard called after her, but she was already gone.

Korra swallowed hard. Now that Aya was gone, Korra realized how much she had stuck her neck out for Korra and Brigid, and how thin of ice they were in with her now gone. Korra reached back and grabbed her tail, holding and squeezing it like a child holding a stuffed animal.

 

[Frostlich1228]

Frostlich1228 & MarineAvenger:"The Pain of Loss"

Orbit Around Novum (February 6th, 2044)
The Einherjar (5:26 P.M., Earth Standard.)

Nick sat in front of the computer screen, looking down at the ring on his finger as he twirled it around, observing the sheen of the polished gold as it moved around, not a single scratch from time or wear. It was a firm reminder of who Nick was and what he symbolized, some small and vulnerable, with a hard metallic shell he hid in to escape the wrath of the world. More and more that shell began to deteriorate, and more the bright light of the teen seemed to be fading.

He waited, and waited for the person on the other end to pick up. He had made a promise, and he intended to keep it, having had to wait a long while for the video room to open up before he could call Melinda again.

It was the third time now, the third time he had tried to get her to pick up. What it wrong? He thought to himself, Usually she picks up almost immediately… Nick didn’t know the answer, so he just kept trying. He needed a friend, one closer to him than anyone probably realized, more than he probably cared to admit.

It was the fourth time he finally received a response, his smile was large but it quickly fell when Nick realized it wasn’t the person he intended. It was an older woman, no doubt in her early forties, her red hair a striking similarity to the person he knew so well. When she realized who had called a hand went over her mouth, and the feeling of worry was immediate.

Melinda’s mother called out to someone in the background and a few seconds later a man appeared, slightly older than the person next to him, with graying brown hair and facial hair on his lip with a pair of glasses that complimented the older man persona.

When he opened his mouth to speak, Nick didn’t hear the words, he didn’t need to. His worst fear had come to pass. It was evident when he saw the pain in their eyes and made sense when Nick realized how adamant his friend had been to spend time with him before his departure.

He pressed a button and the call ended immediately, Nick standing up from the seat and spinning around to run. He had tripped on a chair leg and landed face forward, the healing wounds on his stomach and ribs flaring up in pain. It took all he could to get up off the floor and to run again. His whole body just wanted to give out. For the first time in Nick’s life, his shell had fallen away. In its place, a tighter and stronger one had taken it’s place.

***

Winter looked out one of the ship’s viewports on the way to lunch, she had just gotten off her shift after hours of trying to console one of the pilots that lost a good friend in the recent firefight. The talk went well, but it left Camellia a little upset herself, feeling bad for the man that lost a dear friend to a single mistake from the flight coordinator running the mission. As she stared down at the planet of Novum, admiring the sights, Winter slowly started to hum one of her favorite songs, a song she had been practicing much during her lasts months of college back on Earth, she felt as thought it fit the strange beauty of the desolate planet before her.

The was the quick rush of running footsteps to the side of Winter as a younger man was rushing down the hallway. Without even looking where he was going, he ran into the therapist, throwing both to the floor. Nick just laid on the floor, gripping his horribly sore ribs tightly and groaning out in pain.

She blinked a few times, caught off guard by the sudden fall and impact with the floor. She looked up at the boy, laughing a little and smiling awkwardly, “Uhh… You Alright?”

He still held his ribs, trying to crawl forward but ultimately unable to get up, almost completely ignoring the woman he had run in to.

Camellia waved her hand in his face to get his attention, “Hellooo? Einherjar to kid. Heh, what’s your rush?”

Nick looked up at her, the redness of his eyes and obviously wet cheeks being good indicators that he had been crying, saying in a croaking voice, “Go away…leave me alone...”

Winter’s smile faded as she got up slowly and offered him a hand, “Hey, what’s wrong…?”

Nick finally got up to his knees, trying to get up to run again but only falling back down, hurting himself even more as he cried out in pain again.

She wrapped her arm around him and grabbed his shoulder, pulling him up to his feet, “Come on, I think you need to get to the Med-Bay.”

“N-No!” Nick tried to push her away but had no energy to do so.

She moved to look him straight in the eyes, giving him an empathetic gaze, “Why not? Just tell me what’s wrong, okay? I’m the base psychiatrist, you can trust me.”

“I said go away!” He turned, trying to squirm out of her grip.

Camellia sighed, beginning to get frustrated by his stubbornness. Quickly deciding to take a risk, Winter’s eyes turned a deep purple as she gazed into his eyes, humming to him to try and make him calm down. Her words echoed through his mind as she spoke, “Please… I just want to help you… Calm down…”

Nick’s eyes flashed purple as well, and the effects were immediate, the young engineer immediately calming down. She smiled, “Just listen to me. I want to help you, you’re obviously hurt, I need to know why you’re crying. I can make it better.”

Nick rubbed his eyes, not accepting that it was real yet. “My friend...s-she’s dead…”

“My office is just down the halls a ways.” Camellia said with a caring and sincere tone, “Dealing with the death of someone close to you is always hard, but it’s easier when you talk about it, when you explain what your feeling to someone.”

Nick was hesitant, finally nodding but not being able to walk on his own. Camellia walked him into the room, helping him sit down on a comfortable leather two-seater sofa before taking a seat next to him. “We should probably start with names, I’m Dr. Cross, but you can just call me Camellia or Winter if you’d like.”

“I-I am Nick...Cauthon…” Nick was obviously nervous, not looking forward to the talk with the therapist, just wanting to be alone.

“Look, I’m sorry to have bothered you when you wanted to be alone, and maybe it wasn’t my business, but hiding your feelings from people that want to help you just doesn’t work, you’re not making it better, you’re just locking it away until it pops back up again.” She explained, “If I may ask, do you have anyone else on the ship you’ve talked to about this? Any close friends?”

“I just found out...I was running from the comms room.”

“So she wasn’t on the ship? A friend back home?” She asked.

“Y-Yeah...one of my closest…”

“The death of someone like that is the hardest thing you can face, something you need other people for. Other friends are the best bet, but you can also keep a journal if talking to people isn’t your strong suit.” Winter recommended.

Nick shook his head. “How could a journal help at all...all it does is remind you about the bad stuff you are thinking…” Nick crossed his arms and had to wipe his eyes as he started to cry again.

“Because it helps you let your feelings out in a safe way.” She said, “You have to recognize that your pain is there, only then you can deal with it and move on. May I ask you what it is you like to do with your time? How do you have fun?”

“I stay in my workshop running advanced A.I. diagnostics and build complex robots that I can remotely control with my head...plus whatever other projects the higher ups have for me…” He stated, practically huddled up into a ball on the couch.

She put a comforting hand on his shoulder, “Doing something you enjoy will also help you feel much better. I’m not trying to make you feel better all at once, that’s just not possible, I’m just trying to give you a few ideas to help you get better just a little bit faster. You do have to deal with this at your own pace, but with the support of people that care about you, it will get better eventually. You’ll come to terms with the loss and realize that she loved you and wouldn’t want to see you like this, that she wants you to be happy.”

Nick looked down and he unconsciously twirled the ring on his finger. She always loved me...and I never got to tell her how I felt… A wave of extreme guilt rushed over him and he began to sob again.

“That’s okay… Let it out… Crying is good…” Winter replied, rubbing his arm.

He continued to cry for a good while, seeming like it would never end, until finally Nick asked, “Can I...lay down in here?”

“Of course. I can head over to the cafeteria and get you some food if you like, eating always makes me feel a little better.” Winter replied, smiling.

Nick nodded, waiting for Camellia to get up before laying down on the couch, and quickly falling into a light sleep.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

MarineAvenger & ZombieSplitter53
Family Issues: Part One

XSDF BattleShip ‘Einherjar’
Soldier Barracks
February 6th, 1600 Hours EST

In a familiar scene, even if it had been nearly a month, Brigid sat before a computer, waiting for the call to pick up. She had foregone the written notes and would speak from her heart, even if she couldn’t help but hope either no one would pick up, or that her mother wouldn’t be home. She looked around the room, silently wishing she was able to do this in her own room, but the equipment needed to make a call across the vastness of space was a bit too expensive and high maintenance for a soldier's own room.

And so she sat, wondering what she’d say as waited. Wondering what would be said to her. Wondering how she’d explain why it took her so long to call, considering she had an excuse, but the excuse was likely worse than having no excuse at all. Just another minute, and I’ll give up. Try again tomorrow… -ish.

There was a response, but on the other end of her line was not her mother or father, but brother, Galen sitting in the chair with a bored expression, looking at the screen with a grin. “Heya sis. Didn’t know talk to you soon would take nearly a month.”

Brigid suppressed a guilty look, with minimal success. She laughed, rubbing the back of her neck. “Yeah, well… I wanted to call sooner, but I was… detained… you could say. Sorry.”

“Ooo...bad girl gone wilder. What you do, sleep with someone?” He asked with a sly grin.

Brigid’s eyes widened. “Galen! I… don’t say that to… no! I’ll have you know, I stopped someone else from taking advantage of my friend, and she… um… attacked me for my trouble. And we were… detained… in the brig…” She looked away, the redness in her cheeks either from her brother’s comment, or her embarrassment. Likely both.

Galen chuckled and put his cheek in his hand, shaking his head ever so slightly. “Wow...you are really easy to tease, you know that?”

“You really are impossible, you know that?” Brigid huffed, folding her arms. Her eyes darted nervously towards the screen. “I, um… I heard that… that mom and dad… found out…”

“Yeeeeeeah. That was not fun to hear...for three days…” Galen had a look of dread and said, “They didn’t find out I talked to you though, luckily enough. They’re home now though. I think Dad went out though, so it is only Ma at the moment.”

“I’d rather talk to dad, to be honest,” Brigid mumbled. “I… I should talk to her, right? If I don’t… it’ll only be worse when I eventually do… r-right?” The blond soldier’s eyes looked as though she was looking for actual confirmation.

Her little brother sighed and sat forward, looking at her with a weird look. “Why do I feel this should be reversed? Look...just talk to her already. It’s obvious she loves you Brigid. If she is just too damn stubborn to see how you really are, and how great you are becoming, that is her loss. Just gives me more time to you instead of her.” He stated with a big smile.

Brigid’s lip quivered a bit, and she nodded. “Okay… go get her.” She leaned back, then leaned forward again. “Wait, Galen. Does… does that mean you…”

Galen raised an eyebrow, sitting back down. “Well go on, out with it.”

Brigid shook her head. “No… never mind. Just get ma, and… don’t tell her it’s me, or she’ll come in here mad.”

Just shrugging his shoulders, Galen got out of his chair and left the room, two long minutes passing as he brought his mother into his room. As soon as she saw the screen, Morrigan rushed into the seat, and grabbed the computer like she was trying to grab Brigid. “Brigid! Are you okay!? Aya said you were in space, part of the XSDF! What… what are you doing?”

Brigid waved meekly. “H-hi, mom… um… surprised?”

Morrigan snared. “You’re damn right I’m surprised! How could you do this to us? To Galen? You could have called earlier at the least, considering you didn’t even stop home first!”

Brigid looked down, slowly nodding. “I… I’m sorry, ma…”

“Ma, don’t speak for me, alright. I already forgave her and moved on. If you want me to be honest...I did talk to her before while you guys were away. Only reason I didn’t tell you is because I knew how you would react when you found out. So don’t blame her for not calling, cause I was the one who didn’t tell ya. Now look, I brought you in here so you could talk to Brigid, not scold her. Don’tcha think you should at least give ‘er a chance?”

Morrigan tapped her fingers against the desk, shaking her head. “You… you sound like your father, you know that?” Morrigan folded her arms. “You… you should have told me you talked to her. I’m sorry if I’m hard on you two, but I’m not some boogeyman.”

Brigid shook her head. “He’s just covering for me. I asked him not to tell you, and I’m the older one. You should blame me.”

“You know...the whole point for taking the blame for someone is not for the other person to blab about it sis…” Galen told her from on his bed, the teen sitting on the edge of it. “Look, will you two just kiss and make up already?”

Morrigan shot him a glare, but her eyes quickly started to soften. “I… I would like nothing more.”

Brigid blinked several times. “I… you… what?” she stammered.

Morrigan’s shoulders slumped. “Don’t act like you… you didn’t…” She slowly shook her head. “That you didn’t leave to… escape me…”

Brigid’s eyes widened. “What? No, ma, I… I was just looking for… adventure. I would never… do…”

Her mother sighed. “Twenty-five years… and I’m still struggling to act the part of mom. I’m a bitter woman, and I push people too hard. And my kids are no exception.” She glanced back at Galen. “It’s only a matter of time, isn’t it?”

He just shrugged. “You still have me for a little while at least. Not like I hate you or anything. Just don’t want to be the kid who lives in his mother’s house his whole life. Gotta live sometime, right?”

Brigid nodded. “And I’m not saying I wasn’t… running at times, but… but it was as much my fault as it was yours.” She smiled gently. “I… I-I love you, ma. And all I want is… to make you proud. I’ve just… failed…”

Morrigan wiped away a tear. “You haven’t failed me. I… even after everything I did to hold you back, you’ve gone so far. I couldn’t be prouder. Of either of my children.”

Galen chuckled, getting up from his bed and wrapping his arms around his mother. “Love ya, ma.”

“Love you, too, Galen.” Morrigan squeezed him tightly. She smiled at her daughter, and said, “Bag us some bad guys. I didn’t get much action in XCOM personally. Guess I’ll have to live vicariously through you.”

Brigid nodded, but didn’t look up. “Y-you got it, ma.”

Morrigan frowned, and turned to Galen. “I’m gonna go start dinner.” In a lower voice, she said, “Talk with her for a bit longer, dear. She trust you the most, you know?”

“Mhmm.” Reclaiming his seat as his mother left, Galen took off his flat cap and ran a hand through his hair, “So...that went well.”

 

[MarineAvenger]

"Family Issues" Part Two

Brigid slowly nodded, but she still didn’t lift her head. “It… i-it isn’t fair,” she whispered in a shaky voice.

Galen looked a little worried and he rolled forward. “What’s wrong?”

“She… sh-she should have yelled at me more. You shouldn’t be trying to protect me. I… I-I…” She slowly lifted her head, her eyes red. “Don’t you understand? I… you loved me. You looked up to me. And I abandoned you. Why don’t you… hate me?”

“Cause you're my sister. Do I need any other reason than that? I know if the roles were reversed, I am sure you wouldn’t hate me...or I at least hope you wouldn’t.”

Brigid thought for a moment, the simple but important statement sinking in. She suddenly laugh despite herself, wiping her eyes. “You… you’re a precocious little brat, you know that? A little too smart for your age. You make your older sister feel dim by comparison.”

“You are dim, you little twit.” Galen tried to keep a straight face but he smiled and was eventually laughing.

Brigid nodded, lightly knocking on her head. “You know me. Always ready to look before I leap. I… I’m glad you and Korra talked me into this. I… I feel like a weight has been lifted off my…” She looked down at herself, and said, “...um, shoulders.”

“Who’s Korra?” He asked, crossing his arms.

“She’s my friend… and the reason I was locked up.” Brigid waved her hand dismissively. “You wouldn’t be interested. Just some Tamearin with an attitude as big as her… her, um… mouth.”

“O...kay. So...would you like to hear about my boring life or keep gloating about how you are millions of miles from here on a big adventure?”

Brigid scoffed. “Galen… so far, my ‘big adventure’ has consisted of being underestimated by my CO, being electrocuted during a fight, and spending over two weeks in the brig. I don’t ‘want to hear about your ‘boring life’, I demand to hear about it.”

“Oh, makin’ demands are we? Well...where to start...I currently suck at Math...I am passing Art with flying colors, finally finished reading ‘Of Mice and Men’ in English and…” Galen smirked.

Brigid raised an eyebrow. “And what? What happened?”

“Oh, you don’t want to hear. It is so boring…” He teased, putting his hands behind his head and stretching his back.

“Oh, come on,” Brigid practically whined, only mildly aware of someone entering the room behind her. “I told you about me being in the brig, now you share. You gonna leave me in suspense?”

“Maybe…” With a smile, he said, “I may...or may not...have met a girl.”

Brigid’s eyes lit up, a big smile spreading across her face. “Oh? Come on, what does she look like? She smart? She funny? She have a name?”

“Alicia. She goes to a different school but she is into art as well. Turns out we both applied to the same place to work, we struck up a conversation and we eventually started dating.”

Brigid clapped her hands together. “Oh, such a lovely name. Sounds like a great match. I’m sure you two will…” Something heavy and bouncy pressed against the top of Brigid’s head, and she sighed.

“Oh… he’s taken? Too bad.” Korra frowned. “He’s kinda cute. And looks close to my age. Too bad.”

Galen raised an eyebrow and looked at Brigid. “Uh...sis...who…?” He asked, pointing at the woman.

Korra twiddled her fingers. “Hey, there. Names Korra Devolina. Ever been with a Tamearin before?”

Brigid’s eye twitched. “Korra… this is my brother, Galen… my brother…”

Korra rolled her eyes. “You’re no fun.”

“Besides...I don’t like big busts.” Galen stated with a smirk, knowing there were no repercussions.

Korra stepped back, looking down at Brigid and grinning. “Your brother have a Cecdan Complex?”

Brigid shook her head. “If that means what I think it means…”

Korra nudged her. “Just playing with you.” She pouted a bit. “But little brother has a better sense a humor to go with that handsome face.”

“Oh, flattering. If you’re hitting on me, you obviously don’t have the charm to get a real boyfriend then…” I am enjoying this more than I should be, aren’t I?

Brigid rubbed the bridge of her nose. He has no idea how lucky he… no, how lucky I am that it’s a man saying this to her…

Korra pouted a bit more. “Oh… your brother is being mean to me. I think he needs a good punishment. Maybe this Alicia of his will provide.”

“Probably more than you ever could.” Yep...definitely enjoying this more than I should.

Korra glared at Galen, but as she turned away from the screen, a wide grin spread across her face. “I think I’m in love with your little brother, O’Brien.”

Brigid rubbed her temples. “I hate my life sometimes.”

“Oh, cheer up. Who knows...maybe you will find a guy.” Galen told her as encouragement. “Then you could rub it all in her face...not...literally…”

“You’re… not helping, Galen,” Brigid muttered.

Korra laughed, and stepped away. “Well, I like a challenge. You better tell me the next time you call him. But for now, there’s a line forming in the messhall, and some of us can’t crawl under everyone to get to the front.”

“No, you’ll just butt everyone out of the way with your knockers. I’ll be there in a minute.”

“Not holding your place.” Korra waved at the screen. “Until next time, lover boy.”

“I won’t hold my breath!” He yelled back, shaking his head with a smirk. “You sure keep...interesting company.”

“Doesn’t help that you encourage her.” Brigid smiled gently. “Love you, Galen.”

“Love you too, Brig. If I get a picture with Alicia, I will show you, alright? Just don’t make it a month again, alright? Who knows, maybe I would be married by that time.” He teased.

Brigid stood up and shook her head. “Don’t get my hopes up. And I’ll call again in a week… unless I’m in the brig again for some reason. Make sure dad is home, okay?”

“I can try. No promises though.” He blew her a kiss and said one more time. “Love you.”

“Love ya too.” Brigid ended the call, and stretched her arms. The fear of her mother now gone, she now only had to worry about two things. Getting a chance to talk to her father, and fear that Korra was being serious about Galen...

 

[Taxor_the_First]

Taxor_the_First and DarkGemini24601: “Who Observes the Overseer”


Somewhere in Subspace (February 7th, 2044)
The Einherjar (12:21 P.M., GMT)
Commander’s Office


Astasha tapped her fingers against her hardwood desk, looking over some of the security information submitted to her. Why have those two been off the radar up until now… what exactly did you do, Brea…? The Commander shook her head. It doesn’t matter now. She won’t be interfering with my command any longer, and Mason seems to fall in line nicely. One of her guards interrupted her train of thought.

“There’s an ‘Isaac Anderson’ here to see you,” the guard stated emotionlessly.

“The intelligence correspondent, hmm? Let him in.”

With something of a grumble, an old man in a wheelchair rolled through the door, allowing it to close behind him. “Commander,” he said, bowing slightly and moving towards her desk. “I’d ask if I could sit, but…”

It doubles as a chair, doesn’t it? Astasha shrugged. “Most of my guests stand anyway. It keeps them alert, I find.”

Isaac shrugged. “Sadly, that is also outside my capabilities.” Adopting a more professional pose (as much as one in a wheelchair can), he smiled and placed a small file on the desk. “Thought I’d start off with business. Doing my job and all that. That there is everything of note that’s happened in our absence on Earth.” He indicated the file. “Hence why it’s so small.”

“I imagine. Between the Colonels earthbound like Carter and Volkova, I don’t have much to worry about, and the Sol System itself is protected by our two supra-battleships. It would take someone as foolhardy as the captain in our brig as to attempt invasion or raids of any kind.” Astasha crossed her arms. “Who will be sent to New Alcatraz when we meet up with the transport ship that goes there, once we’re closer to Forseti.”

“Oh good. Something about having a pirate captain just sitting on the ship indefinitely didn’t quite sit right with me.” He frowned. “How soon are we booting her off?”

“It’ll probably be more than a week before we get to where we’d meet up with the transit battleship,” The Commander answered. “Though none of our captives are going anywhere, unless they want to be filled with gunfire from the Outsiders that guard them and any rudely-interrupted soldiers.”

“Eh, I’m paranoid. One too many jailbreaks in my time.” Isaac shifted slightly under the Commander’s gaze. He coughed. “And the Overseer apologizes for not detecting the pirates in the Kuiper Belt sooner. That’s within the Sol system, and therefore should be highest priority.”

“As long as the same mistake isn’t repeated,” Astasha responded. “And I’m well aware of your colorful history… I tend to review the background of people of import aboard my vessel.”

“Oh… good. Uh… how detailed was your review?”

“I took a look at what was available to me, particularly your past history before and during project XCOM. I haven’t reviewed more recent events,” The Commander clarified.

Isaac waved a hand dismissively. “Bah. Nothing interesting happened anyway.” Glancing down at his knee, he continued. “Sum and total of that file, things are quiet, though naturally when the cat’s away, the mice will plan to play. The Overseer’s stepping up intel gathering operations to try and catch anyone thinking of being stupid, but there’s always going to be those who fall through the cracks. Of course, they can deal with that too.”

“As can the XSDF forces stationed on Earth. I left many of the veterans there for a reason, you know,” Astasha chided. “This is only a minor operation, we’ll likely be done and onto other matters a few weeks after arrival.”

“Of course.” That must be why you’ve only brought a small force of greens and a few half-constructed fighters. You’re hoping for the best, but not preparing for the worst. “Still, pirates have shown themselves resourceful, and they clearly have access to expensive tech. Take Swift Tumult. We’re still investigating how those pirates got their hands on those ships, or the parts for those ships.” He tapped a finger on the armrest of his chair thoughtfully. “It’s possible there are some behind the scenes operations we haven’t yet detected.”

“The galactic black market can be resourceful, I’ll give them that.” Astasha shook her head. “Though I doubt it is anything more. If a planetary government was supporting them it should be obvious where the aid is coming from… hiding assistance of a larger scale simply isn’t possible. They either bought the parts illegally, or stole them.”

“Yes, but where from? That’s the question the Overseer is going to be trying to answer.” Isaac shrugged. “So that’s what they’ll be focusing on. Making your job easier.”

Astasha nodded. “Better that you and he handle that. I have enough on my hands as is, between troublesome soldiers and managing the XSDF.”

“That’s what I’m here for. Keeping you informed.” He smiled, and leaned back slightly. “That said, is there anything that you think we could help with? Any little tidbits of info you’re dying to know?”

Astasha folded her hands together. “Do you have any information on recent happenings in Progressus? It seems like that colony is a magnet for trouble…”

“Nothing apart from UFO sightings.” The former Overseer scoffed. “You’d think it was the 1990s all over again. Lights in the sky, all that. A few images, most of which look doctored. The more legit ones depict outdated Humilitia designs, which is rather ridiculous.” He shrugged again. “That’s the most excitement there is at the moment. Colony’s pretty quiet at the moment.”

The Commander frowned. “That… may not be nothing. I know that I received a report that the scout ship “Xenmas” located the site of a battle between some unknown battleship and what they believed was a ship in service to the Exiled General. I’m sure you know of Iucidium, correct? Lieutenant Wong has been adamant in hoping to end his exile more permanently, but so far she and Brea have seemed to always be one step behind him.”

“Iucidium? I thought he would have retired by now.” Isaac shook his head. “That would make sense if it’s true. The ships he made off with date from the Subjugation War, matches the ship profiles.” He frowned. “I’ll put it past the Overseer, see what they say.”

“And secondly,” Astasha continued, “There hasn’t been any word of an attempt to attack New Alcatraz, has there?” The Commander rested her elbows on her desk. “I always wonder if the space pirates will get tired of so many of their number being imprisoned and try something, as foolish as it might be.”

“Nah. All quiet there. The amount of security on that rock is enough to dissuade any unconcerted attempt. There’s the checkpoints and only one FTL transport to prevent any kind of sneaky smuggling-out. Or in.” He cleared his throat. “There’s also the matter of the battleship hovering around the planet, and the knowledge that any kind of prison break there would incur the unbridled wrath of the XSDF.”

“Good, though I will admit, I’m with you in the sense that so many things being quiet is a bit unsettling…” The Commander sighed, shaking her head and leaning back in her chair. “Lastly, I’d ask that the Overseer perhaps provide information to my former Lieutenant Commander in ridding the galaxy of this ‘Rulers of Shambhala’ faction she is dealing with.”

Isaac massaged his brow. And here was me thinking I’d never have to worry about her again. “Of course,” he said simply, replacing his hand on the armrest. “Brea is a significant member of the XSDF. Neither I, nor the Overseer would dream of abandoning her with no kind of assistance.”

“That should be all, then.” Astasha gave one of her fake smiles. “I look forward to receiving more information in the future, of course, as it becomes necessary.”

“And you will be the first to know,” He said, bowing forward. “Until then.” Wheeling himself around, he left the room, a little faster than he’d wheeled in.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Even More Questions

XSDF Battleship Einherjar
Community Mess Hall
Feb. 7th, 1145 Hours

Four Tamearins sat together at a small table near the kitchen, calmly eating their lunches and engaging in a light chat.

"It really is quite interesting work," the male with green hair and a lab tech badge said. "I feared Ms. Exalt would be a slave to her emotions like so many humans, but she is quite brilliant." He looked at a female with jet black hair. "And how is her brother, Sara?"

"He's fine!" Sara snapped, and held her had in front of her mouth. "M-my... my apologies, Parris." Her companion gave her an understanding nod, and she continued. "He... he is quite skilled in his own field. That he should waste it on the humans' defilement of their bodies is such a waste." She glared down at her plate, tapping her foot impatiently. "That I should have to help in any way is a crime."

A violet-haired male in a soldier's casuals placed a hand on her shoulder. "Be at peace, Sara. Would you like to go back to your room?"

Sara shook her head. "No, Rurūshu. This is not my first Sahc-diy-deuh. I will be fine."

Looking to charge the subject, a female engineer with blue hair asked, "You have yet to see combat, is that correct Rurūshu?"

Rurūshu nodded. "It is, at least for the XSDF. Though I have been through a number of battles before coming here. As have you, right Jurri?"

The engineer shrugged. "I decided my place was in the engineering bay, working on the technology to keep soldiers alive. Though... I must admit that I have grown tired of others... non-Tamearins, of course, implying that my decision was motivated by fear."

Parris nodded. "Thus we come to the difficulty of inter-species mingling. Even with our people's culture open for all to know, they often apply their emotion driven tendencies to us."

"True, but... you're not completely free of emotions, right?" Four heads turned to the blond Irish woman sitting down at the end of the table. "I mean... you're not robots... right?"

Jurri smiled lightly. "You are correct. Our emotions are still there. Better to have fear that is present but suppressed then absent, leading to recklessness."

Brigid nodded. "Right. And it allows for things like love, or caution, or other needed... things..." She smiled. "My name is Brigid, by the way. PFC O'Brien, at least when... and if... they ever take me off reserves."

"And what is it that you want, Ms. O'Brien?" Parris asked bluntly.

Brigid stammered for a moment, then remember the Tamearin scientist was likely just being Tamearin, not rude. "Well... like you were saying as I walked up. I feel I could know more about your people. I have a Tamearin roommate... a friend, but recent discussions tell me I don't know as much as I thought I did."

"Why don't you just ask her?" Sara asked, a bit of an edge in her voice.

Brigid hesitated, giving the Tamearin's black hair a curious look, and said, "I, um... I'm afraid she'd get mad if I pry too deep."

Parris adjusted his glasses. "As we were saying, if you were indeed listening to our conversation, humans tend to falsely impose their emotional responses on to Tamearins... unless..." He rubbed his chin. "What did you say was the name of this... friend?"

"I didn't. It's PFC Korra Devolina." Brigid used her hand motions to help her descriptions. "Kinda tall. Long, red hair. Bulbous double D cup. Maybe E."

"Double..." Parris shrugged. "I am sorry, I don't..."

Rurūshu cleared his throat. "Cra'c uha uv dra Dysayneh cumteanc fedr Pon-Taer Cohtnusa. Yht y micdvim ybbadeda." (She's one of the Tamearin soldiers with Pon-Taer Syndrome. And a lustful appetite.)

Sara scoffed. "Tendo Pon-Taers..." (Dirty Pon-Taers...)

The group fell silent, and Brigid frowned. "I... I hope you aren't speaking ill of her. She's my friend, after all.".

The group remained silent for a few more moments. Finally, Rurūshu said, "Apologies, Ms. O'Brien. We are simply... uncomfortable talking about such a... debilitating sickness. Perhaps a Tamearin doctor..."

Brigid sighed. "I still don't understand why it is referred to as a 'sickness'."

"Because you are an ignorant human, butting in on things that are none of your business," Sara snapped.

Brigid rose to her feet angrily, but Parris quickly rose his hand. "Please forgive her. She is going through her Sahc-diy-deuh. As for this Pon-Taer... are you familiar with ichthyoses?" Brigid shook her head, and the Tamearin continued. "It is a human condition, present at birth, causing a scaling of the skin. Now... imagine how hard it would be to explain why this is bad to a Replitan. Your best explanation would be to say scales are normal for them, an illness for humans."

"Just as strong emotions are normal for humans, but an illness for Tamearins," Jurri concluded.

Brigid slowly sat back down. "I... guess that makes sense. But... I feel it is wrong to judge people based on scales or emotions. And what about treatment?"

Jurri shook her head. "Please understand. We do not wish to sound... vindictive against Pon-Taers..."

"Cbayg vun ouincamv," (Speak for yourself) Sara mumbled.

"...and we have attempted treatment. The only possible solution we can come up with is genetic alteration, and I would hope you know, our people object to that. Any change to their genetic code would be a perversion, and change who they are."

Brigid rubbed the back of her neck. "I just... don't understand why your society is unwilling to adapt."

"Of course you don't," Sara blurted out, standing up. Rurūshu moved to silence her, but she said, "No! This outsider, this... human... presumes to have some... elevated knowledge. To pass judgment on us as a...

"I have done no such thing!" Brigid jumped to her feet, slamming her hands down. "I came to you, what are supposed to be a calm, logic-based people, for answers. And I have received nothing from you but anger and condescension! I guess the question I should be asking is why you and this... Sahc-diy-deuh, is any better then someone with Pon-Taer Syndrome!"

Sara's eyes widened, and she extended her arm. What appeared to be a small flame formed, but dissipated centimeters away from her hand. That failing, she lunged for Brigid, but Parris and Jurri quickly grabbed her, as though they were expecting this reaction. "Ruf tyna oui vilgehk lusbyna sa du y tendo Pon-Taer beala uv cred! E'mm vilgehk gemm oui!" (How dare you fucking compare me to a dirty Pon-Taer piece of shit! I'll fucking kill you!)

Brigid took several steps back, giving Rurūshu a shocked look. "D-did... did she just try to throw a fireball at my face!?"

Rurūshu sighed. "My sincerest apologies, Ms. O'Brien, but you should go. When the Sahc-diy-deuh is over, you can expect a much more composed Sara and another apology from her."

Brigid reluctantly nodded, and quickly exited the mess hall. Damn it. I didn't come for apologies, I came for answers. Now... all I have are more questions...

 

[Alzdude28]

Conflicting Personalities
Alzdude28 and Dahlexpert

February 8th 2044
Novum Orbit
Einherjar, Holographic Training Arena
1318 GMT


Al walked into the HTA, grabbed a rifle off the rack and sauntered over to the terminal, scrolling through various scenarios. Settling at last on a jungle operation, the air shimmered as the holograms were brought to life. He took a moment to get his bearings. Enemy numbers and whereabouts unknown. Good cover everywhere. No backup. He crouched and made a quick search of the nearby area. Partial footprint here. Shell casing there. There’s someone close. Out of instinct he tasted the air, checking himself as he remembered that the humans hadn’t bothered to add enough detail to the smells in the simulation to be of any use.

He hooked his claws into the bark of the nearest tree and climbed up a little way, looking for a vantage point. As he settled onto a high branch he heard a shot. His head swung round. There. About 500 meters away, a human soldier was holstering a sidearm.

Al shuffled around a little, looked down his sights, exhaled slowly, then tightened a finger on the trigger. There was a sharp retort and the holographic soldier fell to the ground.

For the next hour or so, Al continued the exercise. Repositioning until he located an enemy, then taking them down with well aimed shots.

Noire walks into the training area and sees that someone is in there, she sees that the person is over the time limite. “Hum I could either enforce the rule, or ignore the person and do my own training”. Noire sits next to the door waiting for the person to finish.

Eventually, Al shot the last enemy, and walked back to the terminal to end the simulation. As he did so, he spotted Noire. “Afternoon. You waiting to use the sim?”

Noire opens her eyes hearing Al voice “Yea I haven’t been waiting here loooooong. Your a spiky mother fucker um crap you're an alien."

“Got a problem with that? You know you’re a fucking Xeno to me as well?”

“Again being called a Xeno, Noire rubs her temple “Sorry for being rude I just never seen an alien like you before. I've seen Ballmadaar, sectoids and thin men, but not whatever you are again sorry for being rude call you a thing.”
Al backed down a little. “Sorry, I shouldn’t jump to conclusions like that. I’m a Dreaconian. From Styx Prime. Not many people have seen us, we aren’t a spacefaring species on the whole .”

“A Dreaconian hum i’m going to have to study your kind, well as you can see i’m a human. But i’m stronger than most humans i’m genetically modified, so I’m stronger and faster then most humans I also don’t age which pisses people off. Nice to meet you um do you have a name?”

“Al. Everyone calls me that.”

“Well nice to meet you Al call me Noire, so what were you doing in there?”

“Just practicing my shooting. There’s only so much you can do on a range, the simulations really help.”

“Yea,I guess training in here you at least have a live target. Noire looks at her marksman rifle I need to practice with my new gun.”

Al looked at the weapon critically. “Not bad. I’m guessing you’re looking to keep them at long range with that.”

“That’s the idea,but it’s not a sniper rifle so it doesn't have the stomping power of a sniper rifle. Hell my the class I’ve been assigned I have a lot of weapons to get use to.”

“And which class is that?”

“Paratrooper, I have to get used to a shotgun this weapon and a SAW." Sigh "but me getting all these of guns should mean that I can handle any situation.”

“I haven’t been given a specific role just yet, so I’m trying to keep my options open.” He flexed his fingers, making his claws click together. “These give me a natural advantage in close combat, so I would probably make a decent assault, but I’m also rather accurate with a rifle, so I might be selected as a sniper. I guess we’ll find out when I get a chance to go in the field.”

“Yea but I can’t wait to go back out on the field, gives me a chance to not hold back and get some much needed fresh air. Hell being cooked up in this ship, how did the the original soldiers of XCOM live underground for months.”

“I don’t really know all that much about XCOM. I didn’t come into contact humans until… about 2036 in your calendar.”

Ou, so you only recently met my people. Please after a decade of being near us you're not planning on destroying my entire race.”

Al hissed through his mandibles. “Another comment like that and I might. Starting with you.”

“Relax i’m just kidding, and I don’t need another rival, but then again i’m always ready for a fight. So if you think you can take me by all means please try.”

Al considered for a moment. “It’s been a while since I’ve had any proper hand-to-hand combat. I’m game.”

“I can see why, fuck it if you're not tired let’s go into the this room and see what happens.”

“I have to warn you, I don’t intend to hold back, other than trying not to kill you.”

“Great that works for me, if you're not going to hold back i’ll use well let’s go with at least half strength so first moves yours.”

“Wonderful.” Without warning, Al leapt across the room at Noire, swinging a punch at her side.

“AW spikes spikes,” Noire throws multiple punches at Al and kicks him in his chest sending him a good 3 feet away from Noire.

He twisted round in the air, landing on his feet, then screeched, with the spines on his head rearing up, before dashing in, aiming a stomp at the side of her knee.

Not happening Noire punches Al with a flurry of punches and knees Al in the gut and backs away from. “OK, he has spikes all over him so I have to be a little careful.”

Protected from the last attack by his physiology, Al wasted no time in sending a roundhouse kick into Noire’s ribs, then rushing her and butting her under the chin.

Noire is falls back a little “Right then, if that’s not working might as well have some fun.” Noire rushes Al and tackles him throwing him to the ground Noire picks up Al and throws him to the other side of the room. “OK no more holding back come on.”


“Kn’ashtek na hignack testec!” (You asked for it!) Al dashed forward, raking his claws across Noire’s cheek before falling back into a defensive stance.

Noire smiles and wipes her cheek, Noire runs towards and kicks Al in the ribs but her kick seems different they seem to have more force behind them. Noire grabs Al and headbutts him several times and punches him in the stomach, knocking some air out of him.

Despite some pain, Al smiled a little as he grabbed her arm and pulled her forward, simultaneously kicking her legs out from under her. Once she was on the ground he stamped on her chest.

Noire yelps in pain she grabs Al leg and uses her arm to sweep his other leg, Noire get’s back up and lifts Al into the air and slams him into the ground, she holds onto his leg and throws him into the nearest wall.

Al rolled away from the wall, then charged headlong at Noire knocking her down again, he leapt on her, the two of them rolling across the floor, punching and kicking.

“ALRIGHT enough, this is getting nowhere, were both healing so this can go on forever with no winner.”

Al stood up, rubbing his side a little. “Thank you. That was… enjoyable. Yn’kaik hnetshka.” (You were a worthy opponent.)


Noire grabs her sides and rubs her head. "Yea that was fun, I never thought that I would find an opponent that can take me in hand to hand combat, so this was fun.”

“I heard there was some other soldier, who used to be… what is the word in English… one who is paid to fight for sport… If you can find him, he might be willing to practice with you.”

“Ou there’s a boxer on board, hum I might just have to meet him. But if I show the same level of power to my own kind they will mostly be sent to a hospital.”

Al grinned slightly at that. “Glad to know I can put up a fight.” He then looked up at the clock on the wall. “I’m going to head to the mess and get something to eat. All this fighting is hungry work.”

“Mind if I join you, I can always practice tomorrow.”

“Sure thing, it isn’t often I have company during meals.” With that the two soldiers left the holodeck, chatting as they walked towards the mess. To any bystanders it would seem unbelievable that they had been fighting tooth and claw just moments ago.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

XSDF Stellar Mission
Bomb Disposal
Operation Constricting Gears

System: Bronze Nova System
Planet: N/A
Location: XSDF Outpost P-012
Date: February 8th
Time: 0900 Hours, Earth Standard Time

Mission Briefing:
Just minutes before the structure was cut off from communications, we received a notification from the furthest-flung monitoring outpost in the Bronze Nova system, P-012. Although small, it was defended by four pulse turrets aimed in the four directions, as well as bearing a large L3 shield generator around the main building of the fort. This, along with a firestorm docked on the base of the asteroid, should have been enough to defend it from vagabonds and malcontents.

Apparently it was not enough. The distress call was brief, but mentioned two raider-class flying saucers and three medium-sized dropships escorted by two fighters and a destroyer were attacking the outpost. The XSDF Firestorm managed to destroy the enemy fighters and a dropship before finally being taken down, but during the crossfire the enemy transports managed to land and deploy their troops into the fort. With only five soldiers, five Outsiders, and a M.E.S.H.A. to defend the base, the outpost was quickly overrun.

The last transmission mentioned the enemy forces were carrying in a plasma bomb not unlike those used in the Ethereal Subjugation War in failed attempts to blow up cities. Although its blast radius is likely not that large, we cannot afford to lose this outpost and give the pirates a victory. We must ensure that this attempt fails just as poorly as other attempts to wreak destruction on humanity’s bastions did. The pirates have been identified as Triads and members of Venom, so expect human troops along with Replitans and their robotic assassins.

Number of Soldiers for this Mission: Fifteen XSDF Troopers (15) with four (4) Mechanicals

Soldier’s Names:

Alpha Team (Transported by the Skyranger)

**SPC Adolfsson, Kriemhiel [Rocketeer] (Reaction Time Overclocker)
PFC Lagunouv, Zoya (Depth Perception)
PFC Mägi, Karolina (ESP)
PFC Karo, Connor
PFC Wolfe, Thomas (T1 Cybernetic Right Arm)
PFC Akizuki, Airina (Telekinesis)
PFC Akizuki, Mari (Imbuing)
PFC Arcwright, Hermes (Thermokinesis, Psi Lance) (Tier 2 Cybernetics)
PFC Devolina, Korra
PFC Jugurtha, Aknin
Seeker One
Legion Frame One
Hover SHIV One

Beta Team (Transported by Peddler One)

*PFC Inverse, Luna (Neural Feedback)
PFC Biobaku, Jelani
PFC Terratorra
PFC King, Hunter
PFC Charbonneau, Avril (Adaptive Bone Marrow B, Hydrothermic Skin)
PFC Zhu, Qiang
Alloy SHIV Two

**Squad Leader
*Team Leader
Italics are player characters.

Gear: (link)

Terrain:

Alpha Team

Outpost P-012 is built into a small, mostly flat asteroid roughly 490 feet in diameter on average. The Outpost itself is in the center north portion of the stellar rock formation, which leaves roughly the length of a football field between the visitor docking station where Alpha Team will be making their entrance between the base. A square customs station covering about a hundred square feet (10x10) can be found to the right of the large landing pad, and provides the only nearby cover besides some guardrails around the round LZ.

The customs station has three floors, the lower one being a small storage basement, the middle a lobby, and the top floor an office. The office has windows facing all sides, so it would provide an optimal sniping position for our soldiers. As for cover beyond the LZ, it is very sparse. Scattered rock outcroppings and a few miniature ridges provide some low and high cover on the way towards the outpost, but there is no real concealment to be found.

Beta Team

The second drop zone is only 30 feet from the back entrance to the outpost. As there is only a narrow piece of flat rock before jagged columns of raw iron jut out of the rock five feet in, going on for twenty, we will have to drop our troops off at the very edge of the asteroid. There are no man made defenses between us and the door, a product of the terrain. There were traps, but thankfully the pirates tripped them, and the only threat on the way to the door will be enemy troops in the general area.

Through the door is a ring like an annulus around the cylindrical structure of the outpost’s main building. It is protected by the outer wall that Beta Team will pass through when they go through the outer door, and on this middle ring are smaller buildings. There is a medical ward to the right of the north entrance, and an smaller adjunct of that building to the left, though it is not connected. On the west side is a barracks and gear storage closet, and on the east side is a warehouse for drones and other mechanicals.

Beta will come under heavy fire here, and should not attempt to go too deep into the fort. Their task is simply to provide a distraction at the door as they will be landing first, while Alpha Team makes their way to the south entrance.

Combined Arms

Once Alpha has reached the south entrance, both teams will breach into the base. We are on a timetable, so while Beta can work on freeing civilians, Alpha must continue on into the six-story cylinder. It consists of an open hangar on the bottom, jutting out into the other side of the thin asteroid, a basement, a security floor, two office floors, and a command center at the top. Somewhere within this structure is the plasma bomb, and we must deactivate it before it is too late. The Legion Frame will be able to disarm the bomb, though if it is unavailable our engineer may be able to in its place.

Enemies:

Alpha

Two (2) groups of three (3) Venom Troopers [Alloy Suits, Beam Weapons] and two (2) Triad Troopers [Alloy Suits, Gauss Weapons]
One group of three (3) Venom Snipers [Basic Power Armor, Gauss Weapons][Depth Perception, Infrared Vision]

Beta

One (1) group of two (2) Triad Troopers [Alloy Suits, Gauss Weapons]
Two (2) groups of three (3) Seekers [Pulse Blasters]
One (1) group of four (4) Venom Troopers [Alloy Suits, Beam Weapons] and one (1) Venom Sniper [Alloy Suit, Beam Weapon][Hyper-Reactive Pupils]

Combined Arms

One group of four (4) Triad Troopers [Alloy Suits, Gauss Weapons]
One group of four (4) Venom Troopers [Alloy Suits, Beam Weapons]
One group of two (2) Triad Troopers [Alloy Suits, Gauss Weapons] and two (2) Venom Troopers [Alloy Suits, Beam Weapons]
One group of three (3) Seekers (Pulse Blasters)
One elite group containing:
(1) Venom Psion [Basic Power Armor, Beam Weapon][Imbuing], (1) Triad Psion [Alloy Suit, Gauss Weapon][Mindfray, ESP], and (1) Replitan Elite [Basic Power Armor, Pulse Weapon][Hyper-Reactive Pupils, Infrared Vision, Dextrous Muscle Fibers]
One elite group containing:
1 Triad MEC Trooper [MEC-1 Marauder], four (4) Drones, and two stripped-down Combat Androids [Ballistic Weapons]

Conditions for Completing the Mission:
1. Defusal of the Plasma Bomb and rescue of as many hostages as possible.
2. Retreat to the dropships and evacuation of the space station.

Civilians:

Inside the customs building are some scarred office workers protected by two Outsiders.

Within the medical building there are a few doctors with two surviving security guard members in critical condition, watched over by an enemy group.

The surviving workers within the main building have been corralled into the command bridge.

 

[Black0ut]

ZombieSplitter53, Black0ut, and DarkGemini24601:
“Operation Constricting Gears, Part 1”

Within the Skyranger

Kriemhiel Adolfsson glanced around the confines of the state-of-the-art dropship, concluding her explanation of what the squad was to expect with this: “Remember, they’re trying to blow the station up. We should avoid getting into protracted firefights at all costs, and find the bomb and deactivate it as quickly as possible. Saving the civilians is a top priority, but the explosive surpasses that because we’ll all be dead if we don’t defuse it. That’ll be up to our Legion Frame, so we just need to protect it.”

Korra swallowed hard, trying to hide her nervousness about her first real mission, but doing a poor job of it. “What, uh… w-what do we do if, um… if the robot is destroyed? Does anyone… know how to disable a bomb?”

“Then that would fall to Akizuki,” The Rocketeer responded. Seeing the two both look at her, she added, “Mari, I mean.” Damn, I see how their parents were trouble for mother to organize… “Unless Arcwright has any knowledge in that field.”

The android shook his head. “I probably assist with help from the Einherjar, but unfortunately I don’t have that knowledge myself.”

Korra nodded. “Alright. Keep… keep robot alive… that failing, keep Mari alive…” She nervously looked her Gauss rifle over for about the tenth time since boarding the ship, and took a deep breath. She smiled nervously at Wolfe. “G-good luck. That's… what humans say, right?”

Wolfe nodded. “That, or break a leg. What’s your name, by the way?”

“Korra. Try to remember it… in case you need to tell my roommates how bravely I fought…” Korra chuckled nervously, looking her rifle over again and closing her eyes.

“You needn’t worry about such things,” Hermes interjected. “I will ensure that no harm comes to you.”

“And even if you do get hurt, I’ll heal you.” Thomas said clutching his medkit with his ‘normal’ arm.

Korra nodded. “Thanks, guys,” she muttered as the Skyranger rumbled, touching down.

Kriemhiel was the first up, walking towards the door. “HS-1, you’re up.” The Hover SHIV rumbled to life, and went out the door for a few seconds. Seeing there was no incident, Kriemhiel followed, activating her magnetic boots and motioning for the others to follow. “They’ll figure out we’re here if they haven’t already. Connor, Zoya, Karolina, go into the customs building and make sure it’s clear. Take E-1 with you,” she added, motioning to the seeker. “The rest of us should start advancing,” she concluded as the last of the troops made it out of the ship.

Korra’s eyes danced around the asteroid, and she shook her head. “Damn… so little cover. Should have trained more for these situations…” She headed for the nearest hunk of rock she saw, remembering to try and keep her breathing calm and her eyes peeled. “N-no sign of resistance yet,” she said over her comm.

Adolfsson frowned. “Something’s wrong… they should have seen us land. L-1, get over-” she started to say to the legion frame before three gauss sniper rounds ripped through space. One of them tore off one of the Legion Trooper’s arms, another missed by two feet, and the third slammed directly into the combat droid’s head, punching out the other side and leaving the circuitry steaming for a moment before the void of space claimed the heat.

“No, no, no!” Korra cried out, seeing the disastrous start to her first mission. “I-I’m not going to die here!” She looked around her, noting the positions of the Akizuki cousins. She scanned the battlefield, noting a trio of Repiltans and a pair of humans taking cover, as well as a trio of snipers, though they were too far away for her to tell their race, taking aim on top of the wall. She noted one taking aim at her, another taking aim at Mari. Thinking fast, she fired at Mari’s shooter, taking down a Replitan, but getting a beam round across her arm. Though it failed to hit her skin, she yelped loudly, dropping to the ground and hunkering down.

Thomas, finally recovering from his initial shock, took aim at the three snipers on the wall. Firing his Gauss Rifle, he shot one of them in the chest after about 5 shots. Nervously, Thomas observed the battlefield, noting no one too injured and turned his attention to the enemies present. “Dammit, we’re sitting ducks!” Thomas growled.

Kriemhiel fired off a few shots from her pulse rifle in the direction of one of the human troopers, not getting a hit but at least forcing them behind cover. “Lagunouv, Magi, you at the office floor yet?”

“Sorry about the delay, had to calm down some civilians up here,” Karolina’s voice came through via comms. “You need us to shoot from here? It’s kind of far without long-range weapons…”

“No air friction, Karolina…” Zoya said dryly. “Have you been paying any attention to simulations?”

“Oh, right. We’ll see what we can do, then!” Several seconds later, a spray of gauss fire imbedded itself into the unprotected side of a Triad Soldier, not quite killing him but doing enough damage to incapacitate the criminal. “Got one.” A more measured burst followed soon after, punching into the armor of a sniper, making him tumble off the wall, either out for the count temporarily or permanently.

Mari looked up for a few moments, taking aim and forcing the last Triad member to duck down. She nudged her cousin and pointed to the side. Airina scooted as far to the side of their cover as she safely could, and shouted, “Devolina, get a hold of yourself! We’ve knocked out about half of them, but we need help! If you want to get out alive, you need to fire!”

Korra slowly nodded, even though no one likely saw it. Peeking around her cover, she closed her eyes and tapped into her Aurora armor. Directing a near-invisible telekinetic shield towards the enemy troops, she placed her hand on the ground and sent a strong current through the metallic asteroid. A few moments later, the enemies spasmed and stood up, Mari blasting a hole through the face of one of the venom troopers. “What the hell was that?” she asked her cousin, but only got a shrug.

Surprised by the enemies standing up, Wolfe took aim at the last Venom trooper and fired. The enemy jerked back, clearly either dead, or seriously wounded. Seeing the immediate threat neutralised, Wolfe glanced at Korra, a bit intrigued by the display of psionics. “Let’s finish this scum off” Thomas muttered.

Hermes outstretched a hand, noting the beam weapon of the immobilized human. Two streams of red energy distortions came from the carbine and heavy pistol of the snakeman, and flowed around the android’s hands. “Enemy disarmed.” With that, he send a bit of a boost into his jetboots using the borrowed energy, and knocked over the Triad Trooper, though a sniper shot too close for comfort convinced him to keep his head down after that.

Finally getting her wits about her, Korra took aim at the remaining sniper. Unloading all she had, a lucky shot as the Replitan took aim at Hermes again forcing her down. She turned her attention at the last enemy, shouting, “Surrender!”

“Fat chance! If I’m taken hostage, I’ll blow up with you guys anyway!” The woman took aim at Korra, forcing her back into cover.

“Um, guys, she’s trying to delay you! Another group like the last one coming in from the left!” Karolina warned, having spotted them with her ESP. A short burst of gauss fire toppled one of the approaching Venom Troopers, but two more remained with two additional Triad ones.

“We don’t have time for this…” Korra’s irritation finally exceeding her fright, adrenaline kicking in, she fired at the last sniper, emptying her rifle to take her out. She reached to her side, grabbing a grenade. “Wolfe! I’m going to try and destroy their cover! Be ready to fire!”

“You got it!” Wolfe said, as he aimed his rifle.

Korra took careful aim, throwing the grenade overhand. It landed and rolled in front of the troops. Korra ducked down to reload her weapon as the grenade went off, failing to damage anyone but exposing the two venom troopers and one of the humans. “Light them up!” Korra yelled.

Thomas fired his rifle until it was empty, managing to kill one of the troopers and injuring both the Triad and the Venom Trooper. Seeing the criminals aim at him, Wolfe tried to dodge to the right, but his right leg was hit, causing him to fall. Is this how it ends? Thomas thought, bracing for the inevitable counter-fire.

“No!” Connor charged forward, tackling Thomas out of the way of certain death and pulling him to safety.

Jugurtha stepped forward, taking aim at the exposed enemy with his heavy MEC armaments. “My turn.” With a shower of fire, the venom troopers didn’t stand a chance, flying back and landing before a now very much alone, very much on the verge of panic Triad. He took a shot at Kriemhiel, and didn’t even come close to connecting.

The NCO finished him off with a shot from her heavy pulse rifle, and then looked over the others briefly as they regrouped. “Advance carefully from now on, but we’re closer to the wall, and with any luck, Beta is in position as well,” she ordered as Zoya and Karolina started to make their way out of the customs station and towards the rest of the squad.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

ZombieSplitter53, Black0ut, and DarkGemini24601:
“Operation Constricting Gears, Part 2”

North Edge of P-012

As the Skyranger was touching down in its LZ, the much-smaller dropship known as simply ‘Peddler One’ was transporting its five humans and one Ardenian, accompanied by one SHIV, onto the edge of the asteroid. Merely 5 feet in the jagged outcroppings of unprocessed iron jutted out, creating both cover and obstacles along the twenty foot stretch to the northern entrance of the outpost proper. Terratorra was one of the first ones out after the SHIV, though the armored Ardenian cast an apprehensive gaze around the uncomfortably quiet area, knowing enemies could be hiding anywhere within the iron spikes.

“Could you hurry up?” He complained to the group leader getting out of the dropship. “I don’t like standing around here like a clueless Phorusr.”

“Clueless what?” Luna mumbled, scratching her head and stepping out of the dropship. “Hey man, time is of the essence, but don’t go running ahead. No offense, but you’re kinda a big target. If you wanna be a meat shield, at least stay nice and close.” She grinned at TT, and waved for everyone else. “Form up.”

With a frown, the Ardenian elected to follow behind the Alloy SHIV, which would take the narrow path between some of the spikes to the door, while the others followed to either side. The first four feet were uneventful, but then a burst of gauss fire tore off some iron in front of Charbonneau, the rest of the bullets slamming into the ground just before her. With the speed of someone who had been keeping their tension barely at bay, Avril spun her alloy cannon in the direction of the gunfire, and sent an alloy spike into the armor of a Triad trooper, the round bursting inside his torso and killing him nearly instantly.

The other Triad on the right wisely back off behind a pillar of Fe. Luna stepped forward, scanning ahead and frowning. “Eyes and ears open, people! I doubt they’d send two guys after us! Either there are more in hiding, or the venom lizards brought some…” Luna was cut off, suddenly lifted off the ground. A seeker wrapped it tentacles around her, eliciting a breathless cry from the woman.

Jelani rushed forward towards Luna. Raising his rifle, he shot the seeker off, albeit at the cost of his whole clip of ammo. “Do we have any medical supplies?” Jelani yelled to the other soldiers.

He found himself lacking a concerted answer as the other two assassin drones made themselves known, claiming Qiang and Hunter in their mechanical tendrils. The Triad took this opportunity to step out from behind cover, firing off a few shots from his gauss stuttergun at Avril, damaging her armor but not penetrating it, but forcing the French soldier to duck behind cover.

“G-Gah, these things!” Terratorra sputtered, aiming his pulse rifle but not feeling confident enough to take a shot at the seekers without hitting someone. The SHIV seemed to acknowledge that its machine gun would only hit its allies, and instead rolled over to the pillar where the surviving organic enemy was hiding, eliminating the surprised human with the chang-chang of powerful pulse gunfire.

Luna coughed and gagged while shakily standing up. “T-Terratorra! Use (cough) your tail. Save… Qiang. Everyone else… (cough) sidearms for Hunter…”

Jelani quickly followed the order, switching his rifle for a pulse pistol. Looking at Hunter, he breathed in, and as he was breathing out, he shot at the seeker, freeing Hunter and destroying the seeker. Jelani turned towards Qiang and then proceeded to look at Terratorra, with a worried expression.

The Ardenian seemed to gather his senses enough to do as Luna asked, drawing back his tail and then sending the sickle blade down in a deadly arc, the armored blade punching into the head of the seeker wrapped around Qiang. While it was not enough to destroy the processing unit of the robot outright, Terratorra was able to use his powerful four legs to pull himself back and yank the seeker off of Qiang, the assassination machine being tossed into a cluster of spikes that got it helplessly tangled up.

Luna stretched her sore arms, looking towards her troops. “Everyone okay?” After a series of nods, she scoffed. “Should have anticipated… sorry. Good job Jelani. Um… you to, Terratorra.”

The Ardenian just huffed, while Qiang pulled out a battle scanner. “Should probably use this now, huh?” The Chinese soldier pulled back the sphere to toss it a few paces forward, and three blasts of pulse fire from different sides ripped through his helmet as another three Seekers revealed themselves for the chance at a quick kill.

“Son of a bitch!” Hunter lifted his Gauss rifle, blowing a few dozen holes into one of the murderous machines.

Luna followed suit, blasting away a second one. “Fucking monsters!” she screamed, turning to the third but finding her weapon empty as it took aim at her.

Jelani blinked, Qiang… Jelani finally snapped out of his stupor to see a Seeker about to shoot Luna. Panicking, Jelani aimed at the seeker with his pulse pistol and shot it once taking it out. Running forward, Jelani crowded around Luna, glancing around in different directions, trying to see if there was more enemies in the immediate area.

As he did so the still-writhing seeker on the ground was put offline completely by a shot from Avril’s shotgun. “Damn things…” she growled. “If there are Replitans monitoring them they’re probably going to start looking for us, so we should find them before they find us. They’ve gotta pay for Qiang.”

Luna slowly reloaded her weapon before walking over to Qiang, crouching down. “Guess my… perfect leadership score was lost right out the gate, huh?” she joked, but the pained look on her face said she found this anything but funny. She grabbed the fallen comrade’s remaining battle scanner, and stood back up. “Avril is right. Let’s get into that building and find anyone remaining before they get the jump on us again.”

The group soon found the Replitans in question as they started to move away from the door they were guarding. They were all in carapace armor, and two had laser rifles, one had a autolaser, and the last one had a scatter laser. The sniper on the wall equipped with a laser sniper rifle was the first to notice them, and shouted out a warning to the others as AS-1 managed to bury one of the riflemen in a spray of superior laser fire.

Everyone scattered into cover, and Luna shouted, “Hunter, Avril, concentrate on that sniper! SHIV, back ‘em up! Everyone else, focus on the rest of them!” She fired at the enemies, wounding one. Hunter took aim at the sniper, and forced the sneaky snake down. The SHIV moved to his side, pinning the sniper with suppressive fire.

Taking the opportunity while the other enemies were busy with engaging the other XSDF troopers, Avril rushed forward, putting her shotgun on her back and climbing up the ladder on the side of the wall. By the time she got to the top the sniper had turned his weapon on her, but the suppressive fire knocked it from the Replitan’s grasp. He went for his pistol, but Avril had her pulse truncated shotgun sidearm trained on him by the time he started to lift it. “You feeling lucky, punk?” The French soldier growled. Apparently the Venom Sniper did, and turned to fire, but again Avril was quicker, blasting him off the wall with her weapon.

Hunter edged over to the side, yelling out to a nearby Jelani, “What equipment do you have?”

Jelani looked to his side. “Gotta flash and a smoke.”

Hunter nodded. He popped his hands open and pointed to his eyes, then to the enemy Replitans. With a nod, Jelani nudged Luna, then prepped the flash grenade. With a nod to the other, he stepped out of cover, taking a light blast to the shoulder, but not before getting a good throw off. The pirates were blinded, and in their disoriented state, Luna and Hunter dashed into closer cover, firing away. Two Replitans fell before the other two got their wits again, and Luna yelled back, “You okay, Jelani?”

“Yeah, they only grazed me!” Jelani yelled back. “Let’s take these bastards down!”

Luna smiled, and shouted, “Hunter and I will suppress! Avril! TerraTorra! Move to flank the last two! They’ve delayed us long enough!”

Charbonneau grinned, and dropped off her ladder, running at one close to her and popping them with her primary weapon again, not bothering to reload the single-shot sidearm. Terratorra had a somewhat more elegant response, using his speed to run to the side of the other foe, disarm him with a lash of his tail, and knock him out with a powerful kick. “Enemies clear, boss,” Avril reported.

Luna cautiously approached, crouching down by the knocked out Replitan. She grab a medspray off his belt, tossing it to Jelani, and removed the charge packs from his weapon and belt. “We don’t have time to secure him. Let’s just hope a hoof to the face will keep him quiet.” She turned around, walking backwards as she said, “Let’s get in there. Alpha team is probably already there, wondering where the hell we are. Come on.”

 

[DarkGemini24601]

ZombieSplitter53, Black0ut, and DarkGemini24601:
“Operation Constricting Gears, Part 3”
XSDF Outpost P-012

After a brief exchange over comms, it was determined that both squads were in position, but the clock was ticking. They need to move in fast before the bomb had a chance to go off. “How much time do you think we have?” Kriemhiel requested to the Einherjar.

“From the energy buildup in the tower’s general area the staff are reporting, I’d say ten minutes. You’d better get moving,” Astasha said, cold and analytical as ever. “I’d prefer if we didn’t increase pirate activity by losing such an important outpost.”

That’s what she’s worried about? Hermes shook his head, and hovered a hand over the door mechanism. “Mari has it unlocked. Ready to open on your order.”

Krimehiel nodded. “When you do, remember what I told you to do next. Alright, Alpha and Beta… they’ll be expecting us. Three… two… one… zero!”

Both Hermes and Avril opened their respective doors, revealing the four buildings surrounding the cylindrical tower making up the main building of the space station. Waiting for both of them from a defensive position set up with the remains of the MESHA guardian and a series of crates was a total of eight foes. They were all in alloy suits, though while the Triads had gauss, the Replitans only had beam weapons. Most of them had rifles, though one from each race had a SAW, and one had a marksman rifle, leaving two from each race with a regular rifle.

As soon as the doors slid open, however, the XSDF troops had already sprung into action. Hermes activate his jetpack and jetboots, rocketing him up into the air as he prepared a psi lance. Kriemhiel, having already loaded a high explosive gauss missile, took quick aim with her steadied rocket launcher and send the projective careening into the makeshift defense. The effect was immediate, the marksmen jumping to either side and the machine gunners ducking behind the MESHA, but it was too late for three of the riflemen, the blast ending their lives in an explosion of shrapnel and short-lived flame consuming any oxygen it found in the suits of the deceased in its brief life.

One of the Replitan riflemen survived, only to find that his suit was leaking oxygen, and collapsed within a few seconds as he suddenly lost all pressure in his suit. Hermes found his target in the Triad marksman, and aimed the psi lance spike surrounding his hand in the man’s direction. For a moment, briefly but unmistakably, the android faltered for some reason. Seemingly frozen for a second, he nearly lost his opportunity, but as the enemy targeted by him noticed his peril and started running for cover, Hermes seemed to come to his senses and fired, the psi lance punching through the man’s back and downing him.

Korra ran to Hermes’ side, or at least below it, using her special armband to form a fireball, though the lack of oxygen made it short lived. “Fuck… stupid, Korra.” She instead lift her beam pistol, missing the remaining Triad but seriously damaging his weapon. “You okay, metal man? Something wrong?”

Hermes landed, and shook his head hesitantly. “It’s… hard to explain. I felt like I recognized him for a moment, but it was just a passing feeling, and an incorrect assumption.”

“Huh?” Korra shrugged, and opened fire again, taking out the Triad before he could pull the pin of a grenade.

9 Minutes until Detonation.

Luna reached up to her comms. “Wolfe. You’re in a prime flanking position. I’ll draw their fire for you.” She jumped up, unloading on the two remaining lizard men. “Hey! Don’t you dare ignore Beta team!”

You better be careful.. Wolfe approached the flanking point and opened fire, taking the machine gunner by surprise, and injuring the Marksman. Next shot should kill him.

Appearing out of stealth, the XSDF Seeker finished the job with its plasma pistol, leaving a smoking hole in the Marksman’s side. It soon found itself with competition, however, a silver Replitan version wrapping its tendrils around the black frame of the XSDF stealth unit, grappling it to the ground. “Not this again! Luna, throw that scanner!” Avril warned.

“Damn squids…” Luna activated the device and tossed it in the middle of the room. It sent data of two more seekers closing in on Kriemhiel and Hermes. “Hey!” Luna took aim at the seeker on seeker action. “Hands off the property!” She fired, sending the enemy Seeker to the ground, though damaging the XSDF seeker. “Oops… um, no one tell the Commander that was me…”

Korra watched as the Seeker snaked its way to her CO, firing at it. It danced through the air, her shots going wide. “Watch out, boss! I can’t get a bead.”

Kriemhiel seemed to look over the Seeker’s movements, and as it opened its mouth to fire, finishing the charge, she danced to the left, avoiding the shot. May never be as good as precognition, but artificial tachypsychia is certainly useful. Lifting her gauss rifle, she fired at the seeker, but it managed to avoid the crossfire the first time. The second burst of gunfire punched into its center, though, hitting the core and blasting it to the side in a small elerium explosion.

Hermes had a different tactic in regards to the one targeting him. As it charged up its gun, he opened his left palm, absorbing the heat energy it was trying to build up. As the Seeker kept trying to add more power in confusion, Hermes didn’t give it a chance to put his absorption limits to the test, drawing back his right and then sending the powerful mechanized blow into the Seeker, knocking it to the side. As it fell backwards, he used a jet boost to pursue it, holding it steady while he drew his pulse pistol and blasted open its side, removing the core and deactivating it. “Mostly intact…”

8 Minutes until Detonation.

“Damn it.” Luna looked down at her watch, and yelled out, “Beta will cover this area and look for civilians. Find that bomb, Alpha!” Beta Team quickly determined that there was no civilians in the warehouse or barracks, judging by the fact that the two enemy forces had just come from there. That just left the two medical buildings, and with the adjunct a damaged wreck, it was clear where any survivors would be held. As they approached this was confirmed by four riflemen, two Replitans and two Humans stepping out of the medical bay and opening fire. The alloy SHIV took some nasty hits from gauss fire, and a laser shot connecting made Terratorra jump back in a panic.

Jelani, noticing the need for cover, quickly pulled the pin on the smoke grenade and threw it down the hall. “Smoke out!” He yelled, hoping the others would understand him. Biobaku then dropped to the ground and opened fire.

Avril briefly entertained the idea of getting Terratorra to help her, but then realized he’d probably make too much noise and take too long to calm down. Sighing, she just elected to run forward from the side of the smoke cover, getting close enough to make out a Triad before she blasted him with a spray of fragmented pulse beams. Much to her frustration, the enemy in heavy armor didn’t die to the blast, and she tried again with her sidearm, dropping the main weapon for now, and the second blast did the trick, but meant she had several weapons trained on her. “Shit,” she grumbled, attempting to dodge and managing to avoid one shot, but the other gauss rifle hit her straight on, punching through her armor and dropping her to the ground. The other Triad managed to clip her with a laser shot as well.

“Not another one, please…” Luna pointed at the fallen soldier, and the SHIV rushed foward, placing itself between Avril and the enemy forces. It unloaded, caring little for the excessive damage it took, downing the Triad and forcing the venom troops to retreat, one heading straight for Terratorra, one straight for Jelani.

Avril… “You did not just shoot her…” Jelani stated, his face darkening. Biobaku shot the assailant once in the head, and twice in the torso. Jelani kept firing at the downed figure, hitting all the limbs the assailant had. Terratorra didn’t speak, barely even thinking as he instead fired off a shot that damaged the neck armor of the enemy charging him, and then swung his sickle blade, the natural weapon beheading the Replitan.

7 Minutes until Detonation.

Luna ran to the fallen soldier's side, kneeling down and looking her over. “A-Avril, are… you…”

"F-Fuck that hurts..." Avril whispered, holding a hand over the wound on her torso. She was bleeding, the Aegis Armor's natural sealing sheet preventing the outside temperatures from immediately freezing her, and her bone marrow regenesis replaced some of the lost vital fluids.

Luna let out a held in breath. “Thank God. Jelani, please patch her up.”

Jelani ran over to Avril, clearly happy. “You had us scared...” Jelani said, his accent coming in a bit strong, “Can you stand?”

The French soldier briefly tried to, but with a flash of pain shook her head. “Be a gentleman… just carry me…”

Jelani gulped. looking for the ‘horsey thing’, he spotted Terratorra. Saying in a voice loud enough to hear, Jelani said, “ Terratorra and me will carry you in.”

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

ZombieSplitter53, Black0ut, and DarkGemini24601:
“Operation Constricting Gears, Part 4”
XSDF Outpost P-012

6 Minutes until Detonation.

Mari raised an eyebrow as she and her cousin hunkered by the door. “Why… are you shadowing us?”

“Because I like you,” Korra answered sarcastically. “Why do you think? You die, we all die… not to sound… you know, cold…”

“Oh, no, all warm and fuzzy…” Mari stepped away from the door. “Damn things triple coded. I can get us in, but it might leave us with about thirty seconds to get to the bomb.”

Wolfe, hearing the news, shouted out, “Anyone got something that can punch through refined metal?”

Kriemhiel sighed in frustration, pulling out her rocket launcher and popping another rocket into it, this one an anti-armor variant. “I’ll apologize for the damages later. Get away from the door. Now.” The Akizukis and Korra quickly rushed to the side, diving behind cover. Satisfied that they were no longer in the blast radius, she fired, and the gauss rocket buried its tip in the wall in a milisecond of hitting, before the explosion bit into the center of the double-doors, blowing them apart in the center, and making the ruins fall off their hinges.

Within the room, a Triad and two Venom operatives jumped back in surprise. “Shénshèng de gǒu shǐ!” The human cried out, firing off a shot from his alloy cannon that merely imbedded itself in the wall, before he gathered his senses enough to send a thread of blue energy into Kriemhiel’s head, making her crumple to the ground in pain.

5 Minutes until Detonation.

“Damn psions,” Korra muttered, seemingly oblivious to the irony. “Mr. Wolfy, help me out!” She raised her weapon to fire, barely dodging when an imbued shot from one Replitan obliterated her cover.

Wolfe… Thought the would-be medic. Taking aim at the Triad, Wolfe aimed and shot three times at the Mafia man’s head, missing once but knocking him down with the remaining shots, severely injuring the scum. “Hermes! Get that Replitan with the heavy Pulse Rifle!” Wolfe yelled to the android. Turning his attention back to the downed Triad he started moving towards the enemy combatant, then remembered his CO was currently writhing on the ground in pain. Deciding to help Kriemhiel, before offing the offender, Thomas ran to the downed Squad Leader and cradled her in his ‘robo arm’, while his normal arm searched for his last medkit. “Hey, talk to me. What ails ya? Where can I apply my medkit to patch you up?”

“Mental… tampering… I-I’ll be fine in a minute…” The German rocketeer muttered.

Hermes was already in action in regards to Wolfe’s request, jetinossing forwards and firing off a shot to match the one the Replitan elite sent his way. The enemy easily dodged, but Hermes’ momentum carried him away from the pulse blast aimed at him as well. Realizing he couldn’t drain a heavy rifle in a reasonable amount of time, he elected to try something a bit smaller. Focusing on his foe’s sidearm as he re-aimed with his primary weapon, Hermes increased the heat energy present in the weapon with what remained of his psionic energy, causing it to overheat and explode. Dodge that, the android thought with satisfaction as the blast blew a hole in his enemy’s armor, but it didn’t slow the Elite down that much.

The click of another gun gave the android pause, and a spray of laser fire hit his seraph-armor equivalent. Expecting the SMG to have done little damage, Hermes was surprised when there was rather severe damage to the armor on his right arm and side. Wha-Imbuing? “Could use a little help here!”

“Got you covered!” Mari and Airina concentrated their fire on the android’s assailant. The Replitan dodged the shots for a few moments, but the drain of using his energy made him falter. Just as the Akizukis started to run dry, he finally succumbed to their attack.

The injured but still very much alive Triad member fired at the pair, but the SHIV charged towards him. A stream of fire rained down on him, forcing him to run out of cover, right into Korra’s line of sight. He stumbled to the ground, dead, leaving a single Replitan Elite to face his overwhelming odds.

4 Minutes until Detonation.

Considering his odds, the Replitan grinned. “If I’m going down, you’re going down with me,” he decided, pulling out a grenade and dodging a few more shots, tossing a grenade into the lift.

“No!” Airina reached her hands out, ‘grabbing’ the grenade with telekinesis and pulling it straight back towards the Replitan. With a frustrated grunt, the pirate was consumed by the explosion.

Kriemhiel got to her feet. “Damn elevator’s only going to fit about six of us.” Not wasting any time to consider, she just said, “Hermes, Thomas, Korra, Connor, Mari, come with me!” She ordered, running for the elevator. “Rest of you, go up the stairs!”

Korra nodded, dashing into the elevator and reloading her weapon, Connor and Mari following suit.
Thomas reloaded both his primary and sidearm, as he ran towards the elevator. Hermes was in last, quickly pressing the top floor where the bomb was likely located based on the heat signature. The elevator rose, slowly at first much to the chagrin of those within it, but it made it to the top in due time.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

ZombieSplitter53, Black0ut, and DarkGemini24601:
“Operation Constricting Gears, Part 5”
XSDF Outpost P-012, Observation Deck

3 Minutes until Detonation.

The top floor was a command center with four large viewscreens on all sides. Rows of computers and comm arrays were set up to keep in communication with the rest of the XSDF, and were probably used in the event of an emergency. Lying on one or two of them were four corpses in total, but the rest of the 18 staff members were alive, if not exactly ‘well’. They were corralled towards the center terminal, grouped together like a human shield around a pulsing plasma bomb. Stripped-down androids, armorless but with ballistic weapons deadly to unarmored civlians, stood behind them, both shielded by and ready to execute their meatshields simultaneously.

Standing to the left of this all was a Triad MEC Trooper, wearing armor painted black and red with a scar over his forehead. In his hands was a pulse lance, though his suit was probably only a MEC-1. Four drones hovered around him to repair if necessary, though the man had a feeling that would not be necessary. As the door opened, he proclaimed, “No further, XSDF swine! Step closer to that bomb and all eighteen of these men and women will find themselves riddled with bullets!”

Korra’s eyes darted nervously between the MEC Trooper and the pulsing bomb. “What… w-what the fuck are you talking about? Y-you’re right next to… y-you’ll die if you don’t let us disable it!”

The Chinese cyborg laughed. “If I am to die for the glory of my fellow Triads, then I will gladly accept that fate. The question is… what do you value more? Your own lives, or the lives of these people here?” He gestured his hand towards the cowering civilians. “If you run now, you might make it to your dropships and escape. If you attack me, they will die but most of you will likely live. If you hesitate, everyone here will die. It is your choice.”

2 Minutes until Detonation.

Korra took a step back. “W-we… boss, we can’t… w-what do we do?”

Kriemhiel seemed silent, and then reached up to her comms unit in a last hope. “For the love of God, tell me your team did their job, SkyEye.”

“The bombers destroyed their transport ships. There won’t be any escape for them,” Addington’s voice came over the German Rocketeer’s external speakers as she activated them. “Why? What’s going-”

Kriemhiel smiled grimly. “Are you really ready to die today, my friend?” Hermes, if he hesitates, go after the combat-

The MEC Trooper balked for a moment, and the android did not falter, a cold determination in his eyes. His jets flared with the last of their fuel, and launched him up towards the ceiling as he drew his pulse rifle in one hand and his pulse pistol in another. Two shots of vibrating red energy, like drills, leapt out of the barrels, and found their targets. The first combat droid’s arm was severed, and the second had its head blown off, both of the machines collapsing in a heap. Before he recovers, shoot him, now! Hermes practically shouted psionically to the others as he touched down again.

Receiving the message loud and clear, Thomas lifted his rifle and proceeded to fire at the drones surrounding the MEC. Two bursts found their marks in two of the floating machines. “Let’s get this Bastard!” Thomas shouted.

1 Minute until Detonation.

Connor sprayed the area above the MEC, forcing the other two drones back. As Mari fired at the MEC, he turned to the civilians. Korra hesitated for a moment, biting her lip, before rushing forward. Lifting her hand, she used the device on her arm to send a fireball towards his face, causing him to falter. “Wanted to keep my psionic color secret past my first mission, at least,” she muttered as she reached the MEC, emptying her psionic pool it an electrokinetic attack towards the MEC. The triad slowly stepped back, his suit sparking and sputtering as Korra collapsed to the ground.

Kriemhiel fired off a few shots to take out the last two drones with the assistance of Connor. “Mari, deactivate the bomb, now!”

“On it, chief.” Mari dashed through the civilians, ripping a panel off the bomb and yanking out a device from her pocket. She plugged it into the bomb and started typing away. “This is… damn good tech! Gonna be close!”

0 Minutes until Detonation.

Kriemhiel closed her eyes in a panic, expecting an explosion, but none came. She slowly raised an eyebrow as Mari continued to work, distracted enough to have not noticed the timer run out. “Um… explaination, Central?”

“I didn’t say it was completely accurate,” Astasha snapped. “But you probably have half a minute left at best, GET IT OFFLINE!”

“Yeah, yeah, bitch, bitch, bitch,” Mari mumbled as she rapidly typed. “Talks like we want to blow up.” Her eyes darted back and forth as she worked as fast as she could with the unexpectedly advanced failsafes and traps in the bombs programming, but it finally let out a whine as the light slowly faded. Mari fell back, letting out a held breath and feeling like she would pass out from relief.

Kriemhiel shakily raised a hand to her helmet again, speaking into the comms. “All channels, this is Adolfsson. Bomb deactivated, we can rest easy,” she stated with a mixture of relief, exhaustion, and pride in her team, as the others made it up the stairs winding around the outside of the cylinder.

The MEC suit’s failsafe kicked in, and the limbless pirate ejected out of his suit as it fell to the ground. He painfully looked at the deactivated bomb, then to the XSDF. “Sh… shit…”

Thomas looked around for injured personel and noticed Korra laying on the ground. “Hey, Boss? I have to get Korra to this place’s infirmary.” Wolfe said, as he ran to pick Korra up.

Korra slowly sat up, reluctantly accepting Thomas’ help. “I-I’ll be fine. Just need rest.” She looked over to the disabled pirate, and whispered, “Mr. Wolfy… don’t tell the others about the electric thing, okay? I want the six of us to be the only ones to know I’m a yellow psion… if I can keep them quiet too, that is.”

Thomas blinked, then offered a slight smile. “Doctor-Patient Confidentiality or I guess Medic-Patient confidentiality. I won’t say anything. And if I can, I’ll try to get the others to be quiet. For now though, I still got to get you to the infirmary.” Heading for the elevator, with Korra in tow, Thomas said “After all is said and done, let’s go get some drinks at the bar alright?”

Korra nodded, resting her head against Wolfe’s shoulder. N… not bad for a first mission… even if I panicked one too many times. Can’t wait to rub it in O’Brien’s face...

 

[Mangrale]

Nevermore, Part 1: Blue Sky

XSDF Battleship Einherjar
Holo-Rec Room
February 9, 2044

The day had been long and Narcisse had just finished his routine session of exercise at the ship’s gym. As a change of pace, he decided to pay a visit to the holographic recreational facility. Although, on the very possible chance someone was already there, he had intended to leave and likely never return. But to his surprise, the holo-rec room was vacant; its near featureless default was a welcoming sight to the exhausted pilot.

He had changed his garb to his favored, comfort-focused ensemble made up of a grey, plain, tagless shirt, a pair of spacious, brown pants and large overcoat of similar color and style. Being alone in the room, these clothes lost a bit of their original purpose. Yet they were familiar to him and made him feel at ease - made him feel at home.

Narcisse was less familiar with the holo room’s control panel. He walked cautiously to it, unsure what layout he’d be dealing with. It seemed simple enough. But his bewildered face didn’t alter while he fiddled with the options. After a full minute of decision making, he found a selection he was satisfied with.

Heh, kind of cliche, he thought to himself with an embarrassed smirk. If anyone were to come in and see me…

The pilot chucked to himself and entered the command, causing the room to shift around him. He attempted to catch as much of the change as possible, turning his head and at times his entire body in mild excitement. He was left with an immense, scenic landscape. Hills green with thick grass, other lush vegetation and trees with densely packed, small leaves, spread along the area in a fairly irregular arrangement. The trees themselves were plentiful, but not nearly enough that they threatened to block the light blue sky, spotted with full, deceptively solid clouds. The terrain was also rich in earth related wildlife such as birds and small to medium sized nonpredatory mammals. The wind was noticeably swift and combined its distant, hollow tones with the various calls made by the animals to complete the illusion.

At Bellrose’s immediate location atop a smaller hill, he noticed a rocky, shallow steam just a few feet wide, coursing along the lowland between the hills. The stream was deprived of fish, but he carefully made his way to it anyway, amazed at the spectacle of it all. When he arrived, he took a moment to crouch and observe its nuances. It was transparent and reflective in the way normal clear water should be. It astonished the young frenchman to say the least.

His eyes narrowed. He was determined to see how far the charade would go. He brushed his right hand through the surface of the water, but quickly brought it back to himself, realizing how the water lacked the usual dampening quality to it. He observed his hand intently, rotating it a few times and feeling around with his other hand. There wasn’t a drop on it. He raised his eyebrows. “Hmmm…” Makes sense I guess.

The steady stream was perfectly realistic otherwise. His strokes started out sensible, but eventually gained in speed and soon he was splashing and crashing his hands against the water, droplets flying out of the frenzy and coming in contact with the surroundings, including Narcisse’s clothes. Wet marks only appeared for a moment before fading. He could still, however, feel a fresh, concentrated breeze from every drop that made contact. Narcisse stopped for a moment to investigate how the stream would normalize. Sure enough, the ripples grew smaller and smaller, fading into the current until there were no signs of it.

Narcisse sat for a while, dipping his feet into the current, footwear still on. The small river was like a brisk air tunnel. The coolness permeated his shoes, all the way to the feet. It was an uncanny yet still refreshing sensation. He hunched over and cupped his hands to bring a sample of the fluid closer to him. He eyed it and pondered. I wonder if...nah probably best not. The frenchman separated his hands, the handful of water rejoining the steam, and stood up from the runnel. It was nice but not what he had in mind when coming here.

He did not have to wait long to find what he was here for, however. On one of the tallest hills of this particular program, lay a single large tree and a side with a slight incline. Under different circumstances, he’d likely want to climb that tree. But at this time, Narcisse headed for the acute hillside and searched for a good spot to lie down. He settled for a position that utilized the tree’s leaves to shade his head from the sun. The clouds passed by the sun from time to time and he really didn’t believe one could get skin cancer from an artificial sun anyway but why take that chance. Besides, the glare annoyed him and his transition lenses only did so much.

The leaves swayed due to the wind, and the shade in turn, so Narcisse deliberately inched his body in a few directions so as to get the most head coverage. He soon gave up on searching and resigned to watch the clouds overhead, at first with the intent of finding clouds that were duplicates of each other. Yet his scheme backfired when, after a minute of searching, he gave a very audible yawn and reached under his glasses’s frames to rub his eyes. If I’m not careful, I might just fall asleep in here. The thought of being awakened hours later by another crewmember, or worse yet, a commanding officer, made him shudder a little.

Determined to stay only a few more minutes, Narcisse folded his hands under his head and did something he’d always heard about, but never got the chance to do. His eyes darted from cloud to cloud, giving his imagination something to work with. He’d then take stabs at what each cloud most resembled, with varying degrees of certainty. One cloud looked, to him, a lot like an old helicopter without its blades. Another cloud seemed similar to a floppy eared dog’s head. And another: an arm facing diagonally away from him. It didn’t have as many fingers as a normal human arm, and what fingers it did have weren’t as well formed as they could be, but it was close enough for him.

Narcisse smiled and turned his head to his left and his right, almost as if he expected something to be beside him. Seeing as there was nothing, he sighed longingly and continued to watch the skies, taking a moment to first straighten his coat under him. A flock of ducks flew in “V” formation across his view, squawking as they did. There was no doubt as to their realism, much to his vexation. I hate birds.

His mood wasn’t soured for very long and he started cloud watching once more. To a certain cloud, he tilted his head, trying make out what to identify it as. It was like a person’s head but it was bulkier than a human’s. It featured narrower eyes and a hairless muscular shape. From what Narcisse could figure, the mass had much in common with the head of a balmadaar. The airman paused, unable to keep his mind from wandering.

 

[Mangrale]

Nevermore, Part 2: Lost Boy

[Flashback Commences]

A younger Narcisse clawed at the pavement in agony with his still responsive left arm, surrounded by seven other boys around his age. Two of them he recognized from days earlier, but things had changed in a big way. Today they were ready for him. Along with five others, they had waited in expectation of the twelve year old, springing their ambush on him coincidentally when the sun was declining at the latter end of the day, when Narcisse would usually head home anyway.

Their vengeful offensive had already knocked Narcisse to the ground, leaving him vulnerable to a barrage of kicks and stompings. One of the original two boys made it a point to plant his foot deep into the Narcisse’s stomach every time he heard him attempt to take a tortured wheeze, just to hear him cough in pain uncontrollably as a result. Any efforts Narcisse made to get up was met with even fiercer blows. All of his rage and hatred was useless against his attackers and he gradually lost the will to fight back.

Convinced of his own death, it came as a surprise to him when the beatings subsided. He could only hear the sounds of heavy footsteps approaching from behind him. A roar erupted, jolting his near lifeless body back to life. It had a different effect for his attackers, who panicked and ran off in the opposite direction of the source. Narcisse’s relief only lasted a split second as he could sense the massive figure advancing and he still unable to do move, let alone escape.

Battered and bruised, he closed his eyes in exhausted expectation. But instead of death, he felt the a large hand grip him from under his right forearm. The journey from the cold ground to the creature’s eye level was painful, as the boy’s anguished grunt attested to. Narcisse came face to face with who he realized was a male “muton” dressed in tattered, dark brown robes, lifting him with his left hand.

The balmadaar’s austere face, low growl and stern eyes pierced its way into the boy’s mind. Before then, Narcisse had never known what true fear felt like. Trembling, the boy clenched his left fist, ready for a last ditch effort to escape. Narcisse gritted his teeth and launched his fist towards the balmadaar’s face, only to see it swiftly caught by the balmadaar’s right hand. Narcisse felt sick to his stomach and slouched his head in despair. Too weak to continue, he passed out in the alien’s hands.

The next time he regained consciousness, he was hitched over the balmadaar’s left shoulder, with his face to the wanderer’s backside and his legs dangling forward, while the giant marched through the streets. Narcisse felt numb and could hardly move his arms and legs. Yet the balmadaar could tell he was awake and attempted to speak to the boy in english.

“You are brave, young one… but too weak… The weak should not be fighting,” he uttered in a low gravelly voice.

The words were as good as wind to the boy. Aside from just starting his studies in english, his fatigue, and the approach of evening, the monotonous motion of travel caused him to drift back into sleep.

He wouldn’t wake up again until hours later, on a hospital bed, his mother and butler by his sides.

[Flashback Concludes]

Narcisse sat up on the hillside, shaking his head in regret over the way he acted beck in the day.

Why? he wondered. Why did he save me?... I was no better than them? I don’t get it. Was it so I could try and protect others for a change?... Narcisse sported a tenuous smile. I hope so…

And yet… I’m still the selfish bastard I always was… He brought his knees closer and fixed his mournful gaze to the ground. His hands clenched around two patches of grass, fitting the blades between his fingers, ripping them out of the ground in frustration. He opened his hand to watch the wind take them away.

His memory taunted him with the events of several days ago, at the bar. The one chance I had to say… something. Anything!… And I did nothing. Just sat there like a fucking idiot, feeling sorry for myself! Narcisse could feel the unwelcome sting from behind his eyeballs, and he hammered the ground in protest.

Maybe I haven’t changed as much as I thought… Still too weak… Even now… Bellrose stood up, trying to wipe away the tears that streamed down his cheeks. All of a sudden, he felt unfit to be there in the holo room. Too many real soldiers…

He allowed himself another minute to calm down, lest he alarm anyone between there and his room. It’s better this way, he reasoned. He’d be better off anyway… without me… They all would…

The notion gave Narcisse solace and he stepped over to the control panel. Once he was next to it, he turned to look at the beautiful, vibrant hills for what he was convinced to be the final time. I should have died with the others when I had the chance…

A few menu options later, and the room reverted to its plain, simple default setting while Narcisse remained unfazed. He smiled approvingly at the the room’s artificial nothingness. Now that’s more like it…

The cyborg straightened his attire, from his glasses to his overcoat, took a deep breath, and exited the room.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

MarineAvenger & ZombieSplitter53
Visit to the Doctor: Part One

XSDF BattleShip 'Einherjar'
Soldier Barracks
Feb. 9th, 0900 Hours

Brigid finished typing her reports on her computer. As of late, she had been instructed to keep a list of her activities on file, particularly as they applied to her training. She wasn't sure if it was for everyone to make sure they were training, or because the Commander was on to her, but at least they take to long. Once finished, she leaned back, looking around the community space for her and her roommates, sighing at how unusually quiet it was, especially with Korra gone.

The door opened from behind Brigid, and Cayden stepped into the room, taking off a black jacket he had been wearing and he walked up to the other soldier. "Morning."

"Morning." Brigid smiled pleasantly. "Long time no see... mostly my fault. You been on a mission yet?"

"No, not yet. Been making me anxious." Cayden reached down and took a cup with a lid on it, handing it out to Brigid. "Didn't know if you liked coffee or not so I just got some you some tea." He had his own cup in hand, a coffee with a lot of cream and three sugar, just the way he liked it.

Brigid giggled lightly. "Tea will do just fine, thank you." She sipped the tea, grinning at Cayden. "Always the gentleman. Just like Mr. D... your father."

"Actually...it was my mother who taught me to be the gentlemen. She was always...well, pushy with me and girls. It was funny to be honest, the way she got so Commander like whenever I had a date, she would coach me with, 'Do this!' or 'Oh no, don't do that!'. Let's just say no girl was good for her son." Cayden smiled and he grabbed a chair, sitting down and taking a sip of his beverage. "How's Korra doing? I heard she had a mission?"

Brigid thought for a moment. "Um... not sure. She's still in the infirmary, though if she suddenly died, they'd probably tell us. Otherwise I haven't checked on her." She tapped her fingers against the desk. "Uh... saying it out loud now makes me sound cold, but I figured she'd be pissy if we tried to comfort her. You... think I should go anyway?"

Cayden shrugged. "I don't see why not. Even if she is pissy about, I doubt she would just deny the company. I've been in a military hospital and it is not all sunshine and rainbows...but, you're her friend, so it is your call."

Brigid nodded, and stood up. Walking to the door, she hesitated as she opened the door. "You, uh... wanna come too? I know she didn't make the best first impression on you, what with the fighting and then the flirting, but she's not as bad a person as she lets off, and I'm she she'd appreciate you as much as me."

Cayden thought for a moment and he just nodded, standing up. "What kind of friend would I be if I didn't at least visit her. Besides, even if I didn't like her that much, would still go with you. You're my friend too, and I don't need you smothering her while she sleeps." He gave her a soft and joking smirk and put on his jacket, joining Brigid by her side. "Let's go."

Infirmary, Room of Korra Devolina

The pillow bounced harmlessly off the head of a very bored, very annoyed looking nurse. "Get out!" Korra screamed. "Leave me alone!"

The nurse sighed, rubbing his temples. "Why are you making this so difficult?"

"Because I'm fine! I just overexerted myself, that's all!" Korra grabbed her other pillows, placing it over her face and screaming. When she looked up again, she asked, "Why can't you just let me go? I'm fine!"

The nurse shook his head, heading out the door. "Standard procedure. And when I bring you lunch later, I suggest you actually eat it if you want to get out of here later today, instead of giving us a mess to clean..."

Korra huffed, and folded her arms. "Whatever..."

There was a knock on the door and Cayden walked in with Brigid behind him, looking at Tamearin with a condescending look. "Making things hard for the staff? You know if you piss them off, the food gets worse."

Korra's eyes widened a bit. "Is... is that an Earth custom I wasn't..." She bit her lip, and slowly nodded, lowering her face into her pillow. "I hate it in here," she mumbled, barely audible.

"It's not so much a custom as it is common sense. Ever hear the expression, 'Don't bite the hand that feeds you.'? I had a friend of mine while in the Rangers and he made the life of the doctors hell, and he got the worst treatment of everyone. When he finally wizened up, hospital treatment was a breeze for him."

"Point is, be nice, and the doctors will be nice," Brigid said.

Korra huffed. "Fine." She flipped her bright red hair out of her face. "If it gets me out of here sooner." She smiled at Cayden. "Hello, handsome. You're looking well."

"Wish I could say the same for you. Have you been flirting with the doctor's as well, or do you just have something for me?" He asked rather up front.

Korra was taken aback, lowering her head a bit. "I... I was just trying to be nice. You always this way around women? Brigid said you were what humans call a 'gentleman'..."

Cayden sighed, "Look, Korra, you are a nice girl, but hitting on someone constantly gets old. It is okay to flirt every once and a while but if you do it constantly, it doesn't make you look appealing, it makes you annoying." Cayden also turned and raised an eyebrow at Brigid. "And you talk about me behind my back?" He asked with an amused look.

Brigid innocently twirled a look of hair. "Only good things," she said in a cutesie voice.

Korra sighed, lying back in her bed. "Human men are so... flippant. They always give me these lustful stares, but hesitate when I propose doing anything about it. They only take their eyes off my chest and talk to me... only take me serious when I compliment them... when I flirt. And now you're telling me if I flirt, I'm annoying. Then what am I supposed to do?"

"I would say be yourself but that line is so overused I think it has lost any meaning. If you want my honest opinion, just be honest. If people only care for you sex appeal then don't associate with them. Sure, people stare, they always do. Humans are just programmed that way to be...attracted by things that are attractive basically. It is our nature, nothing only that happens to you. I'm sure people stare at Brigid too, and I know I get looks from some women but that doesn't mean I go up to them for attention. Find friends who matter, who like you for you, and not ones that will betray you the first second you outlive your usefulness." Cayden went to the side of the bed and brought two chair, putting them both down and sitting.

Brigid sat next to him, and Korra only lowered her head more, looking away slightly. "What if... its too late for that. I mean... I like to flirt. But what if I've already flirted with someone I want to be friends with. As it stands... I-I... I think O'Brien is my only friend here."

Cayden shook his head and leaned forward. "Korra...we are friends. And I am not saying to stop your flirting altogether, just dial it back a bit. And if you want to be someone's friend, just ask them. You find it will be a lot simpler than you think it will be. If they don't accept, it is no big deal, just keep showing them why they should be your friend without just your looks as a motivator."

Korra slowly looked back to Cayden. "So... so you and I can be friends without... you know..."

Brigid chuckled. "Of course you can. I don't know..." Her smile faded as she continued. "Korra, I don't know who got it in your head that that was the only way it could work, but like I said, Cayden is a gentleman. And part of being a gentleman is treating women as equals, not as objects."

Giving Brigid a side long glance, he returned his gaze to Korra. "Y-yeah...basically." Rubbing the back of his neck and smiling, Cayden said, "I would love to be friends.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

MarineAvenger & ZombieSplitter53
Visit to the Doctor: Part Two

Korra grinned widely. She reached over, wrapping her arms tightly around Cayden. Her bosom pressed tightly against his chest, though she likely didn't do it on purpose. "That's great! I've never had a guy friend before! So, uh... what do we do?"

"Uh..." He said, a little caught off guard by the hug but patting her back a bit. "Just...the same stuff you would do with Brigid or another friend, hang out, talk, eat together, that sort of general things."

"Great!" Korra released Cayden, laying back again.

Brigid chuckled. "That's what I like to hear. Easier then I thought. Now all I have to do is get her to stop flirting with my brother..."

Korra grinned. "Hey... like I said, I like a challenge."

"Your brother...? Really?" He asked with a smirk. "Isn't he like...seventeen? About the same age as Bethany."

"Hey, I'm only..." Korra counted on her fingers. "Twen... Twenty-one. I might be lustful, but I'm no pervert."

Brigid leaned close to Cayden. "I think it's different with him," she whispered. "She seems to be caught off guard by the way Galen can... redirect and brush off her flirting without seeming annoyed. It... it's actually kinda cute to watch her try to get under his skin, only for him to get under hers."

"I'll bring the popcorn next time." He whispered back, smiling. "Nice to see you got some competition. Though be careful, older siblings can be very protective of their younger ones."

"That's right," Brigid agreed, folding her arms.

"Are they, now?" Korra looked away again. "I... I-I'll have to take your word for it. I wouldn't know."

"You were an only child?" Cayden asked, wanting to know a little more about the women he barely knew.

Korra shook her head, slowly turning to look at Cayden. Her face was the picture of seriousness. "No. But ask my brother... and he'd probably act like he was."

"Younger...or older?" He asked, his face not really showing a particular emotion.

"Older," the Tamearin answered. "His name is Geshtal. He... he's three years older then me."

"Well...fuck Geshtal." Cayden stated in an angered voice, sitting back and crossing his arms. "Any brother who deserts his younger sister is scum. I don't care whatever your species customs are, or how ever stuck up they are, family bonds run deeper than that. So if he can't see the worth in you, then as I said, fuck him, he isn't worth the brain cells...or breath."

Korra started to smile, but it quickly faded. "You... You should watch what you say. My parents are Tamearin ambassadors, and he's working with them to be one himself. I... I-I wouldn't want something bad to happen to you. Geshtal can be quite ruthless in his business dealings."

Brigid shook her head. "I think we'll be just fine. Besides, Cayden here is a Walker. Fearless through and through."

"Yeah...I doubt an simple ambassador would be able to take on a war hero's son." Cayden smirked and a thought occurred to him, and the soldier shifted in his seat with a concerned look. "You feel alone...don't you? That is why you flirt with anyone that will pay you mind? To keep their attention?"

"What?" Korra scoffed. "No! I... that would... that would imply I need anyone. Why would... people... people never paid attention to me growing up. Why should I... care if they do now?" She grabbed her tail, nervously rubbing it, though it seemed an unconscious action.

"Because you are about as bad at hiding your emotions as a little kid with a crayon in his hand and drawing on the walls. Just admit it...it will be easier if you do." He pressed.

"Why do you care!" Korra snapped.

"Because that's what humans do," Brigid calmly answered. "Especially with are friends."

Korra glared at the two of them. After a few moments of silence, she hung her head in defeat. "You... you don't understand. When I was growing up, aside from my grandmother, no one cared. They wanted to pretend like this... sick child didn't exist. When I started training in the XSDF, I... I learned I had a way to change that. And it was easy, too."

"Usually the easiest path is not always the right one. Though if you try to take that path, try to just coast through hating everyone or pushing people away, you will find yourself alone very quickly, and when the moment comes you need people who you want to rely on, you will find you stand alone. Don't let that happen Korra, you are a better woman than that." Cayden said with a genuine smile. "And I know the person next to me already agrees." He looked to Brigid with the same look. "Even if it is just us two who stand by you, two good friends are better than a group of people who don't care what happens to you, just as long as they get what they want."

Brigid nodded. "That's right. From what I've learned of your people, I... I can't even imagine what it was like for you as a child. But we're here for you now. We just ask that you remember who your real friends are."

Korra sat in silence for a moment before finally smiling. "Okay. Ill try."

Cayden look a bit awkward, but he scratched his head and he also added, "And...well since your real brother is out of the question, I could always fill the part. I already have had to deal with a younger sister so if you ever need someone to really talk to...I could help."

Korra looked between Brigid and Cayden. "This another human thing."

Brigid shrugged. "More of a Walker thing."

Korra grinned. "Sure. Why not... big brother."

"Good, though there is a custom we humans have that I probably should have mentioned before you agreed but..." Cayden smirk mischievously and said, "Brothers and sisters cannot love...so therefore..." Cayden rolled his hand to get his point across. "I outsmarted you..."

Korra winked at him. "Only amongst humans. Amongst Tamearins..."

Brigid gave her a disgusted look. "Ugh... r-really?"

Korra frowned. "No, not really. It was a joke." She pointed at Brigid and looked at Cayden. "Big sister is a pervert, you know that?"

Cayden gave Brigid a look and raised an eyebrow. "Oh, she is, is she? Never knew you much of a frisky one Brig." He teased.

Brigid pouted, folding her arms. "I am not a pervert. And I'm your elder. Show some respect."

Korra grinned mischievously. "Even if you look like the little sister."

Brigid's eye twitched. "You know... you're already in a hospital bed. So if I was to break your leg..."

Korra only laughed, looking up at the ceiling. "Real family, huh? Might be nice."

"Yeah...could be fun to have a family away from home." Cayden put his arm around Brigid, and reached out his hand and touched Korra's. "So try not to kill each other you two..." He glanced at Brigid in particular.

Brigid smiled at Korra. "I think we can manage that." Korra smiled back, nodding in agreement.

Cayden nodded and he got up. "We should let you rest, and tell the doctors you are finally going to cooperate. Hopefully, if you are good, you will actually get out. You coming Brigid?"

Brigid nodded. "Rest up, and we can work on your training later. Maybe show me what those swords of your look like in a holoroom."

Korra nodded. "Alright. Bye."

As the pair of soldiers stepped out, Brigid smiled widely, looking up at Cayden. "That went well. Much better then I expected."

Cayden nodded, "You know...you don't have to actually think of me as your brother. I just said that to make her feel better."

Brigid chuckled. "Heh... if I was Korra, I'd say you were trying to say something with that." She leaned against Cayden's side. "Not that I'm complaining, mind you."

Cayden blushed a bit and he responded, "I-I don't know what you are talking about." He said, looking to the side.

Brigid raised an eyebrow. "You really are your father's son." She grabbed his hand. "Come on. Let's go get a late breakfast."

Cayden shook his head and said, "Sure, I have no plans anyways."

 

[Frostlich1228]

Frostlich1228 & Zombiesplitter53: "Violet Sisters"

XSDF Battleship 'Einherjar'
Main Rec Room, The Bar
Feb. 97th, 1300 Hours

Brigid casually sat at the bar, waving to the bartender. He didn't look happy as he approached her. "You... You got the stuff?" she asked, already sure she knew the answer based on his expression.

"No," he said flatly.

"What do you mean 'no'?" Brigid whisper-yelled. "It was all worked out. We had a deal, and Lt. Commander Brea..."

"Is no longer here," the bartender interrupted. "Which means she isn't here to protect you... or me... from the Commander. And I know nothing about the new guy. Deal's off."

"You can't do that!" A few heads turned towards them, and Brigid lowered her voice again. "I know you how hard Aya and I worked to arrange that shipment? I know you got it."

The bartender shrugged. "Can't help you. Goes to the soldiers now."

Brigid sighed, and pulled a small case containing a data card. "Fine. Whatever."

The bartender raised an eyebrow. "And what's that?"

Brigid shrugged. "Just footage from the final fight with that Ethereal Commander. Straight from the helmet cam of one Amelia Foulke. Heard she wasn't in the final part of the fight until the end, so they didn't make a lot of copies. Makes it kinda rare. Great addition for someone who collects this kinda thing."

The bartender swallowed. "How'd, uh... how'd you get it?"

Brigid sighed. "Traded about five pounds of chocolate to a Humiliata who had it, which I won in a high stakes poker game, which I had to pull a lot of favors to even be a part of." She grabbed a nearby glass of water, lowering it towards the liquid. "Though... don't really need it." The bartender tried to snatch it, but Brigid quickly pulled it away. "Nope. I get my stuff first."

The bartender grumbled, walking to the back room. Brigid giggled, chugging the water in victory, only to cough and gag when she discovered it was actually a cup of vodka.

Camellia stepped into the bar to get a second cup of coffee, after just getting off another long shift with a particular soldier from the last mission. It seemed like this would be the norm for her, as she wanted to give all of her patients as much time as she needed, but knowing that she was the only therapist on the ship at the moment meant that she would be constantly busy until more were hired. If she wanted to keep up this pace she would have to make people wait for days to get a meeting, and by then it might be too late. The thought alone gave her a headache. She walked towards the bar as she saw a familiar face, one she hadn't seen in quite a long while, another child of a friend of her mother's that she happened to meet during a visit. Not recognizing anyone else at the moment, Winter decided that a nice, peaceful talk with a long lost friend would be just what she needed to help her unwind as she walked towards the bar, taking a seat by the woman.

Looking over to her, Camellia smiled, "So, it's been awhile hasn't it?"

Brigid turned to Camellia, the ears throwing her off for a moment. She quickly grinned, wrapping her arms around her friend. "Oh my God! It's so good to see you! It's been... what, four years? How have you been?"

She laughed a little, "I've been fine, great actually! How have you been?"

Brigid puffed her chest out. "Never better! Strong as an ox, pretty as a butterfly. Bean training. What about you? That college thing work out for you? What are you doing here?"

"College worked out for me, alright!" She replied happily, "I'm the ship's psychiatrist! So you've been training, huh? I take it that means you're a soldier?"

Brigid's smile faltered a bit at the word 'psychiatrist'. "Y-yeah. I'm, uh... I'm on the reserves right now. Makes you impatient. N-not... not that I'm doing anything bad, mind you."

Winter picked up on her strange change of expression and slight stutter, "I... Didn't imply you were."

Brigid nervously ran her hand through her hair. "S-sorry. I... I don't think the Commander likes me very much. I guess I was afraid you had been sent to..." She chuckled. "Sorry. That was rude of me."

"It's okay." Camellia raised her hands up, "Honestly she hasn't affected me in a positive way either, but at least it was indirectly..."

"Although I have a feeling that'll change..." Winter muttered.

Brigid scratched her chin nervously. "What makes you say that?"

"I might have said a few things about her while using the comm room to talk to my Mom." She answered, chuckling nervously, "Hopefully she doesn't record those, but knowing her... Eh... Besides I was already sort of expecting to be called in for a chat, knowing how I am with my powers and how much I've heard of her distrust of Psionics."

Brigid waved a dismissive hand. "I'm sure you'll be fine, as long as you don't fling your powers around. I... I have to be honest. I... might have got in trouble for using mine, and... well, either she doesn't know, or she excepted the punishment Aya gave me. So she can't be all bad... right?"

"I guess it depends on what she considers to be 'flinging it around'. Sometimes I use my suggestion to help bring out repressed memories or to have someone forget an event that was too traumatic for them..." She explained, her smile fading, "Although, I did use my suggestion on this kid without his permission... But only to make him feel better when refused to talk to me at all!"

Brigid nodded. "I understand, though others might not so much." She leaned back. "Trust someone how's had psionics since she was six. It is always better to be up front with your powers, or people will lose trust in you. Of course, if this kid was in trouble, I can see why you did it. Just... be careful. For your sake, and because this ship can't afford to lose what I'm assuming is its only shrink."

"Yeah." Camellia nodded, looking over the counter while trying to figure out where the bartender was, "That's why I've always liked hanging out with you Brig, one of the only people other than my family that I can talk to about my psionics without freaking them out or making them uncomfortable. "

Brigid shrugged. "I try. And I feel the same way about you. Isn't every day I find someone I can talk to and is also skilled in violet psionics."

The bartender finally returned, a large box in hand. He placed it in front of Brigid, who handed him his prize. "Of this turns out to be fake..."

"Not like I have anywhere to run to, right?" Brigid responded with a smirk.

Camellia looked at the box curiously, "So, what's that?"

"Ingredients." Brigid grinned and tapped the box. "For my own special mix. This stuff'll make a drink strong enough to knock even the tough Balmadaar on his ass for a week."

 

[Frostlich1228]

Part 2

Camellia laughed, smiling at her friend, "And you're going to drink that?! You're really reinforcing the stereotype aren't you?"

Brigid shook her head. "No, no. I, uh... believe it or not, I try not to drink very much. This is for my training. Do you know what 'Drunken Fist' martial arts is?"

"Yeah, but I guess I never really thought it was an actual form of martial arts. I always thought it was what drunk guys called their flailing during bar fights." Camellia snickered, "Kidding. I'd actually really like to see it sometime."

"Alright. Soon as I mix up a new batch." Brigid placed her hand in her chin, still smiling. "So... meet anyone interesting yet? I'm sure, in your line of work, you've met some fascinating people."

"Mostly just soldiers from the previous missions. Although, I did get to see Sash again, you know her right? Sasha Dragomirov?" She asked as she looked up at the bartender, "Coffee please."

"Cup of tea for me," Brigid said. The bartender walked away, and Brigid grinned. "Of course. Believe it or not, I'm rooming with her and her brother."

"I don't have any roommates, essential staff get their own rooms. I think I might be a little jealous I don't get the whole XSDF experience." Winter shrugged.

Brigid laughed. "Well... I could go for some privacy myself. Not to say I don't enjoy my roommates, mind you." She took the tea from the bartender, sipping it. "One of them is something of an oddball, though I'm not one to talk. You have a lot of experience with Tamearins?"

"I haven't met many working in New York. The ones I have met seem to... avoid me for some reason... Maybe it has something to do with my family?" Winter responded.

"Maybe. Or maybe a race of people who are so strict on their own emotions and mental stability don't have much need for someone who has the job of helping people with that." She leaned closer. "Not to say some don't need help. Other day... one of them snapped at me for asking questions. Than I defend myself, and the crazy woman tries to throw a fireball at me! Thank goodness her psionics... weren't working or something."

"You sure know how to get yourself in a lot of trouble, don't you?" Winter smirked, " I take it you just Mind Controlled her and that was that?"

Brigid shook her head. "Nah, I just got out of there before anything bad happened. Besides, Tamearins are hard to mind control with my own energy suppressed. Will is usually to high." She finished her tea, and shook her head. "Still like to know what her problem..."

"Excuse me," a young Tamearin with bright red hair and a stoic expression approached the pair. "I don't mean to intrude."

Camellia looked at the approaching woman and sighed. Oh Boy...

"I wanted to... apologize for my previous actions, Ms. O'Brien. I do hope you can excuse my rudeness during my Sahc-diy-deuh. Please forgive me."

As the Tamearin woman vowed her head, Brigid rubbed the back of her neck, her expression saying she wasn't sure what the woman was talking about. "Um... no problem. All is... forgiven."

The Tamearin nodded. "That is excellent news. I thank you for your understanding."

"Well. You looked a lot more pissed off from a distance, heh..." Camellia said, turning towards the Tamearin, her hair brushing aside and revealing her pointed ears.

The woman smiled lightly at her. "I have recovered, even if my dignity has not." She glanced at Camellia's white hair. "Are you experiencing your Sahc-diy-deuh, dear? I must say, you are handling yourself quite well."

Her eyes widened a little, smiling awkwardly "Oh! No I'm not... You know... A Tamearin..."

"Oh. I thought... because of the ears and... hair..." The woman bowed her head. "Apologies. I have embarrassed myself again."

"Oh, no. It's okay!" She raised her hands, "It's easy to made that assumption, I got these back when I didn't really know that much about your race. I was actually basing it off the elves from some of our fantasy stories."

"So you... purposely altered you... body..." The Tamearin woman bowed her head. "Excuse me. I must depart." She took off before the other two could say anything.

"Well..." Brigid motioned for another cup of tea, muttering, "That was weird."

"Yeah... You know, I should probably read up a little more on them, there are quite a few more aliens than I expected on this ship and I'm bound to see some in my office eventually. I'd hate to misdiagnose them or something bad like that." She said, taking a gulp of her still clearly hot coffee, but not seeming too fazed by it.

Brigid thoughtfully tapped her lip. "Actually... would you like some first hand experience? Because I know a certain Tamearin that could benefit from a bit of therapy."

"Yeah, that sounds great." She smiled, picking up her coffee and stepping off the stool, "After that maybe with can practice with our psionics, I think we might be able to learn a thing of two from each other."

"That would be great." Brigid placed a hand on Camilla's shoulder. "It really is good to see you again. Especially after so long."

"Same here. This practice is going to be tons of fun, but be warned, I've gotten a lot better since the last time to saw me!" She said excitedly.

Brigid nodded, bringing her friend in for one last hug.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

Dahlexpert and DarkGemini24601: “Mutiny When?”

Somewhere in Subspace (February 9th, 2044)
The Einherjar (11:04 A.M., Earth Standard)
Gym 2

Noire was in the training room, going through her daily workout. Heh hard to believe it’s already been a month since I joined this program, I mean I’m already a little stronger than when I first came here. This facility is perfect for training , I mean I can go full force here I don’t have to hold back anymore. I don’t have to hear crap like ‘you’re just that strong because you’re gene modded’, I bet could do what you do if I had gene mods or any other crap like that. Noire hopped to her feet. “I love this ship, sure I made more rivals than friends but I do love being here.” Noire said thinking out loud .

“Thanks good to hear,” came the voice of an Indian woman leaning in the doorway, the automatic entryway having slid open without a sound. “Considering everything I’d heard about your mother, I was curious as to whether you’d take after her sometimes abrasive attitude or not.”

Noire turns around to see a woman she had never seen before “I take it you're the commander, eh who said I didn't take some of her abrasiveness.”

Astasha shrugged. “Well, you got results on Keen Watchdog, so I’m satisfied with what I saw. Did a good job of staying focused on the mission despite cin Ankhor’s…” The Commander searched for the right word. “...pugnaciousness.”

“You seem to forget who my family is, my mom is Eva my aunts are Elene and Vee my father is Jean. I pretty much can never fail being related to them. Hell my family pretty much told me not to think about it but I can’t help it so a small battle serves as a good distraction for me.”

“Just don’t let that translate into overconfidence. There are few greater enemies to a soldier than that, besides the physical foes themselves,” Streczyk noted, crossing her plasma-scarred arms.

“I see your a good example of that, judging by those plasma burns on you. And don’t worry about me, the benefit of being the daughter of one of the if not the greatest solder on the planet discipline comes as natural as breathing and some small level of arrogance.”

Astasha raised an eyebrow. “Well, I can say for certain the later is something that comes with anyone related to the Exalt bloodline, though there are always redeeming factors in skill, whether it be intellectually or within combat advantages. And while you are correct to some extent, I may have thrown caution to the wind to get the invaders off our planet during the Ethereal Subjugation War, but I have learned from my mistakes. It’s one thing to say you know what not to do, and another to experience firsthand how dangerous overconfidence and recklessness can be.”

“Well since my parents told me not to go around punching the enemy on the battlefield, for several reasons one I’m not strong enough or have the amount of modifications that my mom has. But the second reason is because it’s extremely dangerous.”

“Better left to the destroyers,” Astasha responded, shaking her head. “Honestly, I wonder if we shouldn’t have just programmed the combat droids with that role and left it at that. Though at least soldiers like Charbonneau are durable enough to actually fulfill such a role.”

“Humans tend to be better than androids when it comes to recklessness, besides humans have a special touch that androids don’t have. Well some androids don’t have, I’ve seen some androids that are pretty much close to human than most people.”

“Often too much for my liking. Imitation is flattering up until the point where you can’t tell the difference between an organic and a machine,” Astasha muttered.

“I almost prefer it that way, if the android shows emotion or signs of being human. I’m fine with confusing it with another person because they practically are.”

“Except ultimately they are machines, even if they practically are like human clones,” The Commander contended. “Which I’m sure you no doubt are aware is illegal these days, and has been. I just wonder when the Council will realize creating fully humanoid androids and cloning humans is similar enough to result in the same regulations.”

“Watch it commander, the greatest mind on the planet is a clone. And I have some family friends that are even thought there androids they are practically human.”

Astasha frowned. “I never said that clones were somehow inferior. They are as much humans as we are, though the difference between clones and androids is the obvious one of species. No matter how ‘like’ us artificial intelligences may be, they are not human, and thus are not treated as such, by myself or by the law. They are creations first and foremost, no different in that respect than robotic guardians, troops, assistants, and so on.”

“Off topic, because we can go all day with this. Is there a reason you're down here and not in your office keeping a constant eye on the monitors making sure no one's kissing or something just as ridiculous.”

“I’m here because of precisely that sort of response.” Astasha gave Noire a glare, pushing herself off of the door and walking over. “I don’t give a damn if you are that sarcastic to the others, but I expect a deal of respect as your commanding officer. Ultimately, you answer to me, and I will tolerate that sort of passive aggressive attitude from you no more than I would anymore else. Are we clear?”

“Ou yes, great and powerful commander. I will follow your orders without question. And since were in the realm of ridiculous would you like me to kiss your feet shine your shoes wipe your ass, ou pleas great and powerful commander please order me around like i’m some sort of puppet.”Noire says with sarcasm.

“Do you want to be ejected out the airlock or thrown in the brig for insubordination?” Streczyk asked rather bluntly. “Because you are skirting dangerously close to one of those things.”

Noire got in the Commander's face, “Commander let me make this straight unlike everyone else i’m not scared of you, my mom and father are more intimidating than you. But don’t worry I will follow your orders in the field, unless you ask me do something I would never do.”

Astasha didn’t seem afraid in the slightest, simply replying, “As long as that falls under anything that would be beyond my ability to order, such as harming civilians and the like, then we’re golden.” Stepping back, she turned to the door. “Continue to perform as effectively as you did in your first mission, and we shouldn’t have to see any more of each other than necessary, Ms. Francois,” she concluded before stepping out.

“I hate her I hate her so much, I say the ship will go into mutiny within 5 months.” Noire goes back to her work out and decides to add more weight to the bench press.